Quick Green Hominy Soup

Click here to go to printable recipe:  Quick Green Hominy Soup

My recent fall harvest included tomatillos, serrano peppers and white winter radish:

It is getting cold in Southern Ontario, so a good recipe to take advantage of these veggies is pozole verde – green hominy soup.  I have already posted a traditional recipe for pozole verde, but for this batch, I used the ingredients at hand for a quicker, simpler version. 

White corn kernels, known in English as hominy, are the main ingredient of pozole.  Traditionally, dry hominy was soaked overnight in a solution of lye or calcium hydroxide (a process called nixtamalization), rinsed and cooked in water for hours until soft; then, the brown germ end (tip cap) of each kernel was removed with a knife before adding the resulting hominy to the broth.  Currently, many people buy fully processed canned hominy, and after draining, it may be used directly.

In the case of Juanita’s™ (photo below, left) it is a hit and miss with the tip caps; although they brandish their product as “ready to serve”, some cans come with kernels as white as snow, no problem, while others have kernels with the brown tips intact.  Now, the corn is cooked and edible in either case, but the tips are very hard, so it is advised to remove them, the old-fashioned way, with a paring knife (photo below, right): 

This extra step might turn this dish into a not so pompous, “slightly not so quick” pozole, but I think it is absolutely worthwhile doing.  

Quick Green Hominy Soup –

Pozole verde rápido

Printable recipe:  Quick Green Hominy Soup

Ingredients (for four meal portions)

3 pieces chicken breast, bone in, skin on
2 cans (25 oz each) or 6 cups nixtamal cooked hominy, brown tip caps removed
¾ lb (340 g) tomatillos; husks removed, washed, and halved
2-3 serrano peppers; washed, stems and seeds removed
2 cloves garlic; peeled
1 white onion; peeled, and sliced into quarters
1 romaine lettuce; washed, and sliced thinly
3-4 limes; washed, and halved
Radishes; washed, ends trimmed, and sliced thinly
10 cups water, plus more, as needed
Salt, to taste
Mexican oregano, if available, or omit
Tostadas (crisped corn tortillas)

Place chicken in a large pot over high heat, with ten cups of water.  Bring to a boil, skim and discard any foam from the surface; reduce to medium heat, cover, and cook for about half an hour, until meat is tender and fully cooked:

Remove skin and bones from the chicken.  Shred and reserve meat. Optional: strain broth into a large bowl through a mesh, then return to the pot, and reserve.

Chop two quarters of the onion finely, and reserve as a topping.  Add one quarter to a blender jar, along with the garlic, serrano peppers, and a quarter of a cup of water (photo below, left).  Process until smooth (photo below, right):

Add tomatillos and one teaspoon of salt, or to taste, (photo below, left); process again, until smooth (photo below, right):

Reserve.

Return the pot with the broth to the stove, over high heat.  Bring to a boil, then add the last quarter of the onion, and the hominy; cook for a few minutes, until the corn kernels are hot, and have started to burst or “bloom” (photo below, left).  Remove and discard onion, then pour in the reserved green sauce (photo below, right):

Adjust seasoning with salt, to taste, and continue cooking just until the soup is hot and is simmering nicely (photo below, left).  To serve: place a portion of reserved shredded chicken in a large soup bowl, then fill with hominy and broth (photo below, right):

At the table, offer pozole with tostadas, Mexican oregano (if using), and halved limes on the side:

Add shredded lettuce, chopped onions and sliced radishes on top, to taste:

If Mexican oregano is available, each person may sprinkle some on top, to taste, as shown below, and at the top of this post:

Although red radishes are the usual choice for this dish, I thought the white radish looked really pretty, keeping the monochrome theme of the green soup, and the flavour was very mellow, as well, not as spicy as red radishes:

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For your convenience, click on the highlighted text below for products available on Amazon™.  Note:  The prices for hominy seem very high here, so if possible, look at a local Hispanic grocer or International market first.  DISCLAIMER: Any reviews included in this post are my own, for items I have purchased, not provided by any company; as an Amazon Associates Program affiliate, I might receive a commission for any purchases originated from the links below, at no extra cost to you.  Thank you to readers who have bought other products starting with a click from my links!    

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I am bringing my recipe to Full Plate Thursday #670 with Miz Helen @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.

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I am also sharing my post at Thursday Favourite Things #636, with Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn, Pam @ An Artful Mom, Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner, Amber @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home, and Linda @ Crafts a la Mode.

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I am joining Fiesta Friday #513  with Angie @ Fiesta Friday, this week co-hosting with Pauline @ Beautiful Voyager.

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I am sharing my recipe at What’s for Dinner? Sunday Link-Up #448 with Helen @ The Lazy Gastronome.