White Menudo Soup, a perfect winter treat!

White Menudo Soup

One thing that I remember from my childhood was how my mother used to cook her Menudo; even though she had a pressure cooker that could cook those types of meats in a shorter amount of time, she preferred to cook it overnight in a large pot, leaving it to simmer gently for hours.

We lived in an apartment with a very small kitchen, and for hours the smell of garlic, beef, onion, and bay leaf filled all of the bedrooms. I’d wake up in the middle of the night to that delicious aroma, and in the darkness of the night, I would quietly sneak into the kitchen to find a spoon and taste the broth simmering in the huge pot. Almost always, I burned my mouth, but it didn’t matter as long as I could taste a little piece of the menudo. There’s something about its texture that makes it so interesting to eat. This soup takes me back to those moments in my mother’s kitchen in the middle of the night.

Growing up in the north of Mexico, we always had menudo soup seasoned with a red sauce made of dried peppers. This soup, however, called “White Menudo”, is similar to the one served in the States of Sinaloa and Nayarit, and even in some regions like in the States of Sonora, Jalisco, and Baja California. Every state has its own way of serving this meal: you can find it with or without hominy, topped with chopped onion, mint, cilantro, Serrano peppers, or
crushed dried peppers like árbol or piquín peppers. Some eat it with warm tortillas, while others prefer a piece of a French roll to dip into the soup.
ENJOY!

How to make White Menudo Soup

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RUMBA® Meats sponsored this post. Foods of the Soul

DIRECTIONS:

• Remove the Honeycomb tripe from the package, drain and rinse. Place in a large pot or bowl and squeeze the lime juice over the tripe and fill the pot with water. Let the tripe soak in that lime juice and water solution for 30 minutes, then drain and rinse again. This step will help eliminate any unpleasant smells from the tripe.  Drain and rinse again, pat dry with paper towels, and cut into 2-inch pieces. Place the pieces, with the onion, garlic and bay leaf in a large pot with a lid and fill with the water. (Please check the ingredients list below)

• Place on medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that will form on the top after a few minutes. Now, partially cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium-low, and gently simmer for about 2 hours. If you are adding the calf’s foot, remove as soon as it has cooked. Once it’s cool enough to handle, chop the meaty parts and discard the bones, return the meat to the pot.
• Add the drained and rinsed white hominy along with the sprig of mint. Keep cooking slowly, for about another ½ hour. If the tripe if too chewy, it needs more cooking. Well, cooked tripe should be tender when you bite it. Add salt as needed.  Some cooks like to add granulated chicken bouillon to add more flavors to the broth instead of salt.
• Serve the soup in bowls, and pass the garnishes around the table so everyone can add them to their personal liking.

5 from 2 votes

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White Menudo Soup

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

2 hrs 25 mins

Total Time

2 hrs 50 mins

 

Growing up in the north of Mexico, we always had menudo soup seasoned with a red sauce made of dried peppers. This soup, however, called “ White Menudo ”, is similar to the one served in the States of Sinaloa and Nayarit. I hope you enjoy this delicious recipe.

Category dish type: Main Course, Soups

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 6

Author: Mely Martínez - Mexico in my Kitchen

Ingredients

• 3 Pounds of Honeycomb tripe from RUMBA® Meats
• 2 limes
• 1 head of garlic cut in half
• 1 medium white onion cut into 4 pieces
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 quarts of water
• 2 15oz cans of ready-cooked white hominy, rinsed and drained*
• 3 small sprigs of mint
• Salt to taste

TO SERVE:

• ½ Red onion finely chopped
• ½ cup of mint finely chopped (or just the leaves)
• ½ cup cilantro finely chopped
• 2 limes cut into wedges
• 2-3 Serrano peppers finely sliced
• 3 teaspoons of dried Mexican oregano
• Piquín peppers freshly crushed (optional)
• Warm corn tortillas or French bread

Instructions

1. Remove the Honeycomb tripe from the package, drain and rinse. Place in a large pot or bowl and squeeze the lime juice over the tripe and fill the pot with water. Let the tripe soak in that lime juice and water solution for 30 minutes, then drain and rinse again. This step will

2. help eliminate any unpleasant smells from the tripe. Drain and rinse again, pat dry with paper towels, and cut into 2-inch pieces. Place the pieces, with the onion, garlic and bay leaf in a large pot with a lid and fill with the water.

3. Place on medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that will form on the top after a few minutes. Now, partially cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium-low, and gently simmer for about 2 hours. If you are adding the calf’s foot, remove as soon as it has cooked. Once it’s cool enough to handle, chop the meaty parts and discard the bones, return the meat to the pot.
4. Add the drained and rinsed white hominy along with the sprig of mint. Keep cooking slowly, for about another ½ hour. If the tripe if too chewy, it needs more cooking. Well, cooked tripe should be tender when you bite it. Add salt as needed. Some cooks like to add granulated chicken bouillon to add more flavors to the broth instead of salt.
5. Serve the soup in bowls, and pass the garnishes around the table, so everyone can add them to their personal liking.

Recipe Notes

*If you prefer to cook the hominy from scratch, use ½ pound of dried hominy, rinse and leave to soak overnight in a large pot with water. Drain the soaking water, then fill the pot with fresh water and cook over medium heat for about 1 ½ to 2 hours until the corn starts to pop open. Somehow, I couldn’t find un-cooked hominy here in Texas.

**You can also use RUMBA® Scalded Beef tripe for this soup. And for a more flavorful soup, add 1 calf’s foot cut into pieces; it is usually sold already cut.

This soup reminds me a lot of the “Pho” soups served here in the States at the Vietnamese restaurants. I hope you try it and come back to let me know if you make any changes to the soup.

Provecho!
Mely,

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