White Menudo is really easy to make, this authentic soup form the State of Sinaloa in Mexico uses few ingredients but it is packed with a lot of flavors rendering a very earthy meal in a bowl.
215oz cans of ready-cooked white hominy, rinsed and drained*
3small sprigs of mint
Salt to taste
TO SERVE:
½Red onionfinely chopped
½cupof mintfinely chopped (or just the leaves)
½cupcilantrofinely chopped
2limescut into wedges
2-3Serrano peppersfinely sliced
3teaspoonsof dried Mexican oregano
Piquín peppersfreshly crushed (optional)
Warm corn tortillas or French bread
Instructions
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.
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 oregano, and 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 White Menudo soup in bowls, and pass the garnishes around the table, so everyone can add them to their personal liking.
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 Pkg. beef feet cut into pieces; it is usually sold already cut by Rumba Meats®You can now buy Rumba Meats® products on Amazon.