Aguascalientes Beef Tongue Pozole (Pozole de Lengua)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10-quart heavy stockpot
• •Cast iron comal or thick steel comal for toasting chiles
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •12-inch clay cazuela or heavy skillet for frying the adobo
• •Sharp small knife for peeling the tongue

Instructions

1. 1

   Nixtamalize the corn

   If using dried cacahuazintle, cover it with 4 quarts water in a nonreactive pot and stir in the cal. Bring to a simmer for 25 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover, and let it sit overnight. The next day, rub the corn between your hands under running water until the skins loosen and the kernels feel clean but still whole. Rinse well. This is work. Pozole begins with corn, not with a can.

   If you bought prepared pozole corn from a tortilleria or Mexican market, rinse it and skip the cal step. If you use canned hominy, use 4 cans of 29 ounces each, drained and rinsed, and understand the texture will be softer.
2. 2

   Cook the tongue

   Put the beef tongue, beef shank or neck bones, onion, garlic, bay leaves, xoconostles, salt, and 5 quarts cold water in a large stockpot. Bring slowly to a simmer and skim the gray foam during the first 20 minutes. Lower the heat until the surface barely trembles. Cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until a knife slides into the thickest part of the tongue without resistance.

3. 3

   Peel and slice

   Lift the tongue onto a board while it is still warm. Peel off the thick outer skin with your fingers and a small knife. Do not wait until it cools or the skin will fight you. Trim any tough bits from the base, then slice the tongue into thick half-moons. Strain the broth and keep it. Discard the spent onion, garlic, bay, bones, and xoconostle pieces.

4. 4

   Open the corn

   Put the rinsed cacahuazintle into the strained broth. Add enough water to keep the corn covered by 2 inches. Simmer gently for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the kernels bloom open like little flowers and are tender at the center. If the broth drops too low, add hot water. The corn tells you when it is ready, not the clock.

5. 5

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo, chile ancho, and chile pasilla separately, 20 to 30 seconds per side. The skins should puff and darken one shade. They should not blacken. Toast the cumin seeds for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Burned chile makes bitter broth. Throw it out and start again if you burn it.

6. 6

   Soak and blend

   Cover the toasted chiles with hot water and let them soften for 20 minutes. Drain them and blend with 2 cups of the pozole broth, the toasted cumin, Mexican oregano, chilcuague, and vinegar until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Chilcuague is strong and numbing, so use a disciplined hand. This is a Bajio accent, not a dare.

7. 7

   Fry the adobo

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat. Pour in the strained chile puree. It will jump, so stir with authority. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, until the color deepens to brick red and the fat begins to separate at the edges. This frying is what removes the raw chile taste. No me vengas con atajos.

8. 8

   Finish the pozole

   Stir the fried chile adobo into the pot of opened cacahuazintle. Add the sliced tongue. Simmer 25 to 30 minutes so the tongue, corn, and chile broth become one pot instead of three separate jobs. Taste for salt. The broth should be full, lightly acidic from the xoconostle, and red from chile, not tomato.

9. 9

   Serve the table

   Ladle the pozole into deep clay bowls. Set out radish, romaine lettuce, white onion, lime, oregano, tostadas, and crumbled queso ranchero in small dishes. Let each person finish the bowl at the table. Aguascalientes food is generous, but it is not confused. No cheddar. No sour cream. No flour tortillas here. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy tongue from a butcher with turnover. At Mercado Teran in Aguascalientes, ask which lengua arrived that morning. A good tongue smells clean and sweet, not sour. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
• •Chile guajillo should be flexible and brick red, not dusty and brittle. Chile ancho should smell like raisins and dried fruit. If the chiles smell like cardboard, your pozole will taste like cardboard.
• •Chilcuague belongs to the Bajio and Sierra Gorda pantry, especially around Guanajuato, Queretaro, and San Luis Potosi. It gives a tingling finish. Use too much and it bullies the broth.
• •Xoconostle gives acidity without making the broth taste like lime juice. If you cannot find it, leave it out and adjust at the table with lime. That is a compromise, not the same dish.
• •Canned hominy works when time is short, but dried cacahuazintle has better chew and better flavor. Two days is two days when you nixtamalize properly. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
• •The cocineras of Leon, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, and Aguascalientes know this inland logic: chile for depth, corn for body, dairy when the dish asks for it, xoconostle for acid, and lard when the pot needs flavor.

Advance Preparation

• •The cacahuazintle can be nixtamalized one day ahead, rinsed, drained, and refrigerated.
• •The tongue and broth can be cooked one day ahead. Peel the tongue while warm, refrigerate it in some broth, then slice before finishing the pozole.
• •The finished pozole keeps 4 days refrigerated. Reheat gently and add water or broth as needed because the corn continues drinking liquid overnight.
• •The chile adobo can be toasted, blended, strained, and fried one day ahead. Refrigerate it separately and stir it into the broth when finishing the pot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 720g)