Spicy Pork Stew With Hominy and Collard Greens

By Melissa Clark

Spicy Pork Stew With Hominy and Collard Greens
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
3 hours, plus overnight soaking
Rating
5(569)
Comments
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I’ve long adored hominy, the earthy dried corn kernels you find in pozole, the chile-laced Mexican stew. When I saw dried heirloom hominy for sale online, I bought some. I knew that having it in the cupboard when a hominy craving struck was the best insurance against cheating and buying the canned version.

Like dried beans, dried hominy needs a good long soak and a lengthy cooking. But there’s nothing difficult about the process.

Many pozole recipes call for the finished stew to be garnished with shredded cabbage. But after bingeing on cabbage recently, I decided to take a different route, and stirred slivered collard greens into the pot at the end of cooking. They turned silky and soft and offered a nice contrast to the chewy hominy, the brawny pork and the spicy thick broth.

Featured in: A Long Soak Brings Out Dried Corn’s Earthy Flavor

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings
  • 1pound dried hominy
  • 3pounds boneless pork butt, cut into 2-inch-square chunks
  • 1tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 1teaspoon black pepper
  • 3tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
  • 2yellow onions, finely chopped
  • 4garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1tablespoon New Mexican chile powder (or less, to taste)
  • 1teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1teaspoon Mexican oregano
  • 1bay leaf
  • 1cinnamon stick
  • 1chipotle in adobo sauce
  • 1(12-ounce) bottle lager-style beer
  • 2pounds collard greens (about 2 bunches), center rib removed, leaves chopped
  • Lime wedges, for serving
  • Cilantro leaves, for serving
  • Diced avocado, for serving
  • Diced radish for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

615 calories; 44 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 827 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Soak the hominy in plenty of water overnight. Drain.

  2. Step 2

    Season the pork all over with 1 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sear the meat in batches until well browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate.

  3. Step 3

    Add the onion to the pot and cook until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, chile powder, cumin, oregano, bay leaf and cinnamon. Cook 1 minute. Return pork to pot. Stir in the chipotle, hominy, beer, 6 cups water and 2 teaspoons salt. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Uncover and simmer for about 1 to 1½ hours more till meat and hominy are tender, adding water as needed if too thick. Stir in collards for last 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf and cinnamon. Taste and adjust seasonings. Ladle into bowls; garnish with lime, cilantro, avocado and radish.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
569 user ratings
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Comments

theoperadiva

If you are using dried hominy, I recommend cooking it separately for a few hours before putting it into the dish, even after an overnight soak. We bought rancho gordo dried hominy, and their own website indicates it should be cooked for several hours. While this dish was very tasty, the hominy didn't open after the full cooking time and I had to cook far longer than instructed, drying out the meat. Next time, I'll cook the hominy separately until it is tender.

Sally McKee

The only adjustment I made was to increase the salt. I suspect if I had salted the cut-up pork the day before, it would have had more zing without added salt. But this is a great recipe.

Suki

I cooked it in a slow-cooker on low for 6 hours, and then before serving heated it up in a saucepan and added collards - great flavor (and I added more salt)

Sherrypi

Not crazy about Collards. Any suggestions for a substitute? Kale maybe?

Alice Kaiser

I made this with pork butt leftover from a Diana Kennedy recipe with a similar flavor profile, hominy from my freezer and shredded escarole. The guajillo chile-onion-garlic-tomato-orange juice-beer sauce thinned to a wonderful 'soup'. Perfect on a cold, wet January afternoon.

Soprano39

I could not get dried hominy - in fact my local market was even sold out of canned hominy, So I substituted 3 cans of assorted beans (black, pinto, white) and used a lot less water - 1 can chicken broth plus Mexican beer. It wasn’t “pozole” but it was just delicious. Still simmered it for 3 hours so the pork was nice and tender.

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