Menudo is a hearty Mexican soup made from tripe (beef stomach) and plenty of chili. While tripe is not the most popular or appealing of ingredients, it is cheap, nutritious and if prepared property, delicious. You can find both tripe and pigs trotters in all good butchers. Serve this with plenty of corn tortillas, and if possible leave the dish to cool overnight and reheat for better flavor.
Serves: 6
Time: 4 hours
Ingredients
1kg tripe
2 pig trotters
2 lts water
1 onion
1 garlic bulb
1 handful of coriander with roots
1 tbs peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 tps cumin seeds
3 tps dried oregano
5 small red chilies
salt
4 tbs vinegar
2 cans of hominy
1 handful dried guajillo chilies
1 tbs sugar
Method
Clean you tripe thoroughly in cold water and trim any excess fat away. In a large pot add cold water and bring to the boil before adding the pig trotters and tripe. After 10 minutes, pour away the water and add more water, chopped onion, garlic bulb, coriander, peppercorns, bay leaves, half the cumin, half the oregano, half the vinegar and the red chillies. Cover the pot and simmer for 2 hours before allowing it to cool.
Next remove the tripe and cut into strips. Take the meat off the trotters and discard the bones and fat. Strain the liquid through a sieve, keeping for future use, and discarding the solids. Add the meat, tripe and strained liquid back to the pot. Take the dried chillies and with a little salt grind them in a pestle and mortar until a paste has formed. Add to the pot along with the canned hominy. Add the remaining spices, vinegar, a little crushed garlic and season to taste. Simmer for another couple of hours until the soup is thickened.
Serve with plenty of hot corn tortillas and some wedges of lime.
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