Mexican · Main · Hard
Menudo
A soul warming tripe soup in red chile broth with hominy. Mexico's legendary weekend hangover cure, served with lime and oregano.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Menudo, in 5 ideas
- The long simmer transforms tripe from chewy to meltingly tender
- Guajillo chiles give a fruity mild heat that defines the broth
- Cleaning the tripe well at the start keeps the broth sweet, not funky
- Menudo is weekend food in Mexico, simmered low while the family gathers
- The pig's foot adds gelatinous body but the soup works fine without it
What you need
Ingredients
- 3 lbs honeycomb tripe, cleaned and cut into strips
- 1 pig's foot, split (optional, for body)
- 8 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 cans (25 oz each) hominy, drained
- 1 tbsp oregano
- Salt to taste
- Lime wedges, diced onion, and cilantro, for serving
How to make it
Directions
- Rinse the tripe well and simmer in fresh water for 10 minutes. Drain.
- Cover with fresh water and simmer 2 hours until starting to tenderize.
- Soak the chiles in hot water 20 minutes, then blend with garlic, onion, and chile soaking liquid.
- Strain the chile sauce into the pot with the tripe.
- Add hominy and simmer 1.5 to 2 hours until the tripe is completely tender.
- Season with salt and oregano. Serve with lime, onion, and cilantro.
Money saver. Ask the butcher for pre cleaned tripe; it saves a long scrubbing session and costs barely more.