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Pozole I

A Mexican hominy soup made with pork, spices, and cornmeal, finished with lime.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Oregano and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pozole I

Timeabout an hour

Ingredients

Directions

Brown the pork

  1. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium‑high heat.

  2. Add the pork and cook for about 5 minutes, turning the meat to brown all sides.

  3. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.

  4. Add the oregano, cumin, cinnamon, ground chiles, chopped chiles, and jalapeños and cook, stirring, for two or three minutes.

Simmer

  1. Add the chicken broth, water, hominy, and salt and pepper to taste.

  2. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, about an hour.

  3. About 10 minutes before serving, stir in the cornmeal.

Finish and serve

  1. Just before serving, stir in the lime juice (omit this if including lime quarters among the garnishes).

  2. Serve, passing a plate of optional garnishes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

616Calories
61 gProtein
32 gFat
22 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Soupnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Oregano + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together983 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Cumin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  4. Pork + chickentop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,417 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Clove + cumintop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,306 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork shoulder
Becomes tender and rich during the long, covered simmer.
Hominy
Adds chewy, starchy body that thickens the broth slightly and holds its texture.
Cornmeal
Thickens the broth gently as it cooks near the end.
Onions
Soften and turn sweet, building the savory base of the broth.
Chicken broth
Provides the liquid base that carries the seasoning and cooks the pork.
Lime juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich, savory broth.

The step that matters

Browning the pork. Searing the meat over medium-high heat builds deep, roasted flavour through the Maillard reaction. Crowding the pot or leaving it wet causes steaming instead, leaving the broth flatter.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, clove, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, pepper, chicken):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, clove, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, pepper, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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