Posole Verde
By Melissa Pitts
There are several types of posole floating around these days, most popular are the red and green versions–I am more partial to the green kind as I love all things tomatillo related. While green posole is made with pork usually (I’ll get to this later), I wanted to make this an easy and quick weekday meal so I use a store bought rotisserie chicken-don’t judge me! This version is simple, fresh and satisfying on a chilly night and did I mention it’s low in fat?
A few things I learned while researching the best way to make posole: it was originally made with human meat. Yup- HUMAN MEAT. Allow me to explain: cannibalism was frequently practised during pre-Hispanic times (apparently human bone is a great material for building things). And, as corn was seen as a sacred food for the Aztecs, it was to be eaten on special occasions. on these special occasions, the meat used in the pozole was human. After the prisoners were killed by having their hearts torn out in a ritual sacrifice, the rest of the body was chopped and cooked with corn in a stew. The meal was shared among the whole community as an act of religious communion. After the conquest, when cannibalism was banned, pork became the staple meat as it “tasted very similar”, according to a Spanish priest.So there you have it- hope you enjoy my version of posole verde!”
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 miutes
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
- 1 store bought rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1 pound tomatillos, husked and halved
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 2 poblano chiles—roasted,cored, seeded and roughly chopped
- 2 serrano peppers, seeded and quartered
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 15-ounce cans of hominy, drained
- Finely shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced radishes, chopped onion, diced avocado, tortilla chips and lime wedges, for serving (optional)
Directions
- In a heavy pan on medium heat, add the canola oil. Add the poblano peppers and onion, saute until the onion is translucent- about 5-7 minutes. Season with a dash of salt. Next, add the smashed garlic cloves and cook another minute. Remove from heat.
- In a blender add the tomatillos, cilantro, onion and poblano pepper mixture and 2 cups chicken stock. Blend until smooth.
- In a large stock pot, add the pureed mixture and rest of the chicken stock. Add the oregano and cook the soup on moderate heat, until it turns a dark green- about 15 minutes.
- Add the shredded chicken and hominy and let simmer another 20 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve and garnish with your choice of toppings.
