MEXICAN SOUP RECIPE: CHICKEN POZOLE

A ridiculously easy Mexican soup recipe for chicken pozole.

Photos: (Above) Pozole by Gabbi's in Orange County, California. (Below) Hominy prominently featured by Flickr user evelynishere. Used with permission.

If you love Mexican food and are looking for an easy way to make chicken pozole, my sister in-law Paty Castellanos recently shared her recipe with me. One of my most memorable experiences with this hearty soup was when I lived in New Mexico, where households throughout the Southwestern state serve pozole on New Year's Eve. I remember, when party-hopping one year, how each household served its own variation, using different meats and seasonings for the broth.

I'm lucky to live in Southern California, where it's not hard to find a nice bowl of pozole thanks to the popularity of Mexican restaurants. The photo above is from Gabbi's in the City of Orange. Although you can't see the hominy -- the main ingredient of this hearty dish -- in the photo above, it was definitely there in abundance. Paty's is especially flavorful and so easy to make.

Ingredients

Yields 8 servings

Chicken pieces or whole chicken
Chopped garlic and onions
10 oz can of Las Palmas red enchiliada sauce
2 to 4 cups of hominy
For the garnish and seasonings: salt, chopped cabbage, cilantro and onions, sliced radishes, and limes, oregano and Tapatio sauce

Sour cream and other condiments if desired
Salt to taste
1 tsp cumin

How to prepare the soup

In a large pot over high heat, bring water to a boil.
Slice your chicken, skin it and remove all of the fat.
Add your onions and garlic to the pot, then add your chicken.
Add cumin and alt to taste.
When the meat from your chicken starts to separate from the bone, add your hominy.
Add your enchilada sauce.
Simmer to let the flavors permeate.
Serve in warm bowls.

The garnishes

In separate bowls, place your sliced cabbage, limes, radishes, cilantro, chopped onions and oregano. Set the bowls on your table with serving spoons. Place Tapatio or any other chile sauce on the table. Your guests can add garnishes to their own bowls.