Posole Salad

This was a bright and crunchy posole salad with an excellent and smokey sort of pork flavor which really makes the dish! I’ll definitely be using this pork for other things like tacos, etc.

I liked this posole salad because it used ingredients that I rarely use (or know how to use) such as cabbage, radish, etc. Oh, I hate cilantro so I didn’t use it! I’m sorry! I also only used 1 jalapeño as I was making this dish for my kids. One said it was perfect as-is and the other said it was slightly spicy. I would be wary of using 2 if making for kids who aren’t used to heat.

I didn’t have any cheesecloth so just used the spices on their own and removed the onion, bay leaf, and garlic when the recipe suggested. The whole spices were fine left in and added extra smokiness to the bottom of the pot which all came out with the lime juice.

I used a 1.20 lb bone-in pork shoulder and cut as best I could around the bone. I actually threw the bone in for the initial cooking and just removed it with the bay leaf and onion.

The final result was tasty but I wanted more crunchiness so I added 1 extra cup of cabbage!

I enjoyed the bright, lime-forward taste of the tender, moist pork in this posole salad. I would enjoy making this again—my husband seconds this sentiment. The cabbage, radish, and pumpkin seeds are nice crunchy elements that make this a very refreshing and healthy dinner, especially on a hot night.

I had to add 8 cups of water to the beer to braise the meat. The salad is definitely only a 2 serving dish. We are light meat-eaters and by the time the meat braises etc, a lot of fat has melted off the shoulder, and so you end up with about 8 ounces of meat, 4 ounces per serving. You’d only have a couple of bites stretch this to four servings. Next time I’ll double the recipe.

I used canned white hominy since I couldn’t find dried. I used two cans.

This salad has such a great flavor profile. The hoppiness of the beer came through along with the cumin, coriander, and ancho chili. The flavors were subtle, but present. The textures and colors made for beautiful plating, but what I enjoyed most was the lime and jalapeño sauce on the pork.

I used canned hominy and heated and seasoned it before straining. It does take a little time to cook the meat and you do need to watch the evaporation, but it is every bit worth the effort.

A salad with main-dish meatiness and flavor, this has well-developed and concentrated flavors to reward for the time commitment. Although this is not an epic 2- or 3-day posole, the meat, and hominy are still going to take several hours, bubbling away patiently. Initially, I made this using tinned hominy partly to save that part of the preparation, and while it worked, by the time the meat had reduced all the liquid, I felt I could easily have had a batch of hominy running in parallel.

For the pork, it seemed like a large amount of liquid to evaporate, but the eventual concentration was delicious. It still seemed a bit too wet to become crisp without scorching, and the evaporation time meant it shredded more like carnitas, but the lime juice deglazing pulled it all together, and I kind of wish I had more of that! The jalapeño (one enormous one) just blended into a delicious tho not too fiery hot glaze. The finely shredded cabbage and chopped radishes were great contrast (and if you slice the cabbage thinly with a knife instead of a mandoline, that will be just fine; you need about a quarter of a large head of cabbage). Reheating the second day, I added the juice of a small lime and that helped with making the flavours more evenly distributed.

I think the texture and flavor of freshly cooked hominy is worth the time if you can do it, but, otherwise, a large can of ready-to-use hominy will work.

I felt the flavors needed to be tossed together, which distributed the meat well enough to be satisfying and a tablespoon of toasted pepitas were a great garnish along with some sea salt. Reheating the second day, I added the juice of a small lime and that helped make the flavors more evenly distributed, and served it arranged, letting each serving be mixed as it was eaten, and surrounded it with tiny tomatoes sliced in half which made it feel more as a salad.

The meat doesn’t end up as nicely pieced as the photo suggests, so maybe they cooked larger pieces or mine just took longer and was past that stage. It was still delicious.

The only issue was the amount of hominy I used was too much for the meat. I’ll use a little less the second time. The posole and hominy alone lack the infused flavor that makes it so good in stews, but alone is bland and needs dressing and restrained amounts. Making sure the dressing and ingredients are tossed together may take away from pretty plating, but delivers a better first bite.