I’ve been having fun with offal, namely tripe. It’s inexpensive (less than $4.50/pound), and delicious. I’ve made Roman tripe, but I wanted to make menudo, the famous Mexican soup usually reserved for family gatherings (but also known as hangover cure).
It’s a great soup for a hot day and yesterday was hot hot hot. 
Most recipes I researched for this post called for 8 hours of cooking. Even jobless I don’t have that much time. My friend DeAnna’s mom used to use a pressure cooker to make it. Smart lady. Make those kitchen tools for you, I say.
So it’s good that I took an accidental short cut. I got book tripe from the Asian market, instead of honeycomb tripe. It looked just like photographs of honeycomb tripe on the interwebs so I treated it like honeycomb tripe. But it cooks for much less time.
So, I bring you Three Hour Menudo
2 pounds book tripe
1.5 large onions, medium dice, divided use
10 cloves garlic, divided use
6 New Mexico chili pods (stems removed & indifferently de-seeded)
3 Japones chili pods (same as above)
2 tsp cumin, divided use
2 Tbsp oregano, divided use
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 to 5 cups chicken stock (whatever amount you have on hand is fine)
1 can hominy (white or yellow, it doesn’t matter)
2 Tbsp butter (optional)
Garnish:
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 finely diced red onion
Put the tripe, 1/3 of the chopped onion & 5 cloves garlic in one gallon of cool water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1.5 hours. When finished cooking, remove and rinse in cold water. Discard the tripe boiling liquid. Set the tripe aside
While the tripe cooks, cover the chilies with 3-4 cups cool water. The chilies should be fully submersed with an inch of water to spare. Boil for 10 minutes. Cover & remove from heat to steep for one hour.
Do not throw out the chili water! Put the cool, drained chilies in a blender with one cup of the chili water along with 3 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp cumin & 1 Tbsp dried oregano (if using fresh, double the amount of oregano). Purée until smooth and not gritty. This is the base of your soup.
Chop the remaining two cloves of garlic. Heat a stock pot, add OO and sauté the remaining onion and garlic. Add 6 cups of liquid to the pot- a mix of chicken stock and water with a minimum of 2 cups stock is ideal. Add the puréed chilies, 1 tsp cumin and 1 Tbsp oregano. Bring to a boil and quickly reduce to a low simmer.
Now cut the tripe into uniform strips that will fit on a spoon. I say uniform pieces because this recipe has just a few ingredients so each item should shine. Uniformly. Add the tripe and hominy and reduce to low, partially covered, for one hour, stirring occasionally.
When the soup has reduced, taste it to check seasoning and salt as needed. If it lacks body, add 2 Tbsp butter.
Serve with garnishes.
Although I lived in Dallas Texas for 15 years I never made menudo. Why would I, there was amazing menudo all around my neighborhood in Oak Cliff (south Dallas). Fun fact, Wiki tells me it’s also called mole de panza, (stomach soup) or pancita (little gut). Call it what you will, it’s really delicious.
Next on my Tripe dance card is Philadelphia Pepper Pot. A beef and beef tripe soup. But I want to wait for a rainy day to make it.
Stay safe
Love big &
Be well
xoxo Nancy