Menudo Colorado

A rich red Mexican menudo!  The Mexican hangover cure!

     There are a few recipes around the world that claim to be hangover cures.  Menudo tops the list!  Menudo is not just a Seis de Mayo meal for those who partied too much on the Cinco de Mayo holiday.  Menudo is a meal for special family occasions and holidays too.
     There are several variations of menudo.  Some are clear broth (white) and some are colorado (red).  Philippine menudo tends to have a high amount of anatto in the seasoning mixture and the color of Philippine menudo is a rusty orange color.  The tint of Mexican red menudo depends on the choice of chile peppers in the recipe.
     Menudo is most often served as a soup.  Some prefer the menudo to look like a stew with large pieces of tripe.  Yes, tripe is the feature ingredient in menudo.  Honeycomb tripe is preferred for menudo by many cooks.  Rumen tripe (flat smooth tripe) is also preferred for making menudo.  I used the flat tripe for this recipe.  The tripe must be soaked and thoroughly cleaned before cooking.
     A traditional menudo is made with a rich gelatinous stock.  The stock is made fresh for the first part of the menudo cooking process.  Beef feet or pigs feet are the best choices for making the gelatinous stock.  Pigs feet (trotters) are the easier of the two to obtain at markets.
     It is important to skim the foam and impurities off of the top of the simmering menudo stock, so the broth stays clear.  Do not stir the soup stock or the surface foam will never form!
     The basics of menudo that I just described are the required steps of making traditional menudo.  The seasoning is similar in all red menudos, but the choice of red chile peppers is up to the chef.  Menudo is meant to be mild and savory, so the chile peppers need to be mild.
     Mild dried chile peppers with a fruity flavor profile are preferred.  Only 1 or 2 hot chile peppers is needed to add the small amount of spicy heat that is required in a menudo.  For the mild fruity savory chile peppers I chose to use chile guajillo, chile ancho, chile cascabel, New Mexico chile and chile pulla.  For the spicy chile pepper heat I chose to use a medium hot chile arbol.  This combination of chiles creates a very authentic rich tasting menudo broth!

     Menudo Broth and Tripe Preparation:
     The tripe preparation in this recipe is for flat smooth tripe or rumen tripe.  Honeycomb tripe is prepared in a different manner, but the most important thing is to make sure that the tripe is clean!
     Note:  This menudo recipe makes 1 large bowl of menudo!
     Soak 5 to 6 ounces of flat tripe in water with 3 pinches of sea salt in a refrigerator for 30 minutes.
     Drain the water off.
     Rinse the tripe under cold running water and scrub the tripe with fingers.
     Place the flat tripe on a cutting board.
     Trim off and loose membrane and fat.
     Use a very sharp knife to shave the "furry" lining off of the tripe, so both sides are smooth.
     Cut the tripe in to 2" wide strips.
     Cut the strips into 2" long rectangular shaped short strips.
     Place 1 pigs foot (trotter) into a large sauce pot.
     Cover the pigs foot with 2" of extra water.
     Place the sauce pot over medium low heat.
     Simmer the broth.
     Skim the foam off of the top of the broth, when it forms.
     When the broth stops producing a large amount of foam, add the flat tripe strips.
     Wait 15 minutes, till the foam from the tripe appears.
     Start skimming the tripe foam off of the broth.
     When no more foam appears, then let the broth simmer for about 2 hours, till a rich gelatinous stock forms.
     Remove the pig foot.  (Discard or snack on the pig foot.)
     Keep the tripe strips and broth warm.

     Red Chile Pepper Broth:
     The chile pepper broth can be made while the menudo broth is being made!
     Place these stemmed, seeded and crushed dried chile peppers in a sauce pot:
     - 3 medium size guajillo chile peppers
     - 3 chile pulla
     - 1 chile cascabel
     - 1 medium size New Mexico chile
     - 1 chile ancho
     - 1 or 2 chile arbol
     Add 2 cups of water.
     Place the pot over low heat.
     Simmer the chiles till they become soft.
     Allow the chile peppers and broth to cool to room temperature.
     Puree the chile peppers in a food processor or blender.
     Puree the mixture till it becomes a smooth thin broth.

     Menudo Colorado:
     Add the red chile puree broth to the tripe and broth in the other pot.
     Set the temperature to medium low heat.
     Add 1 small handful of chopped onion.
     Add 2 minced garlic cloves.
     Add 1 1/4 cups of rinsed canned white hominy.  (Pozole)
     Add 4 pinches of cumin.
     Add 3 pinches of ground anatto.
     Add 1 pinch of Mexican oregano.
     Add  pinch of epazote.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Simmer and reduce, till the menudo broth becomes rich and a total of 2 3/4 to 3 cups of menudo remain.
     Just befor serving, add 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro.
     Add 1 very small squeeze of lime juice.
   
     Presentation:
     The menudo can be served with tortillas or bread on the side.  I chose to place some grilled sourdough bread in the center of the soup bowl and pour the menudo over the bread croutons for a nice presentation.  This way, the ingredients can be seen!
     Brush 2 small slices of sourdough bread with blended olive oil.
     Grill the bread on both sides in a pan over medium/medium low heat.
     When the sourdough bread becomes toasted, place the toasted coutons on the center of a large soup bowl.
     Ladle the menudo over the sourdough croutons in the bowl.
     Sprinkle a few slices of green onion over the menudo.
     Garnish with a cilantro sprig.

     This menudo is very tasty and there is no unnecessary steps or extra ingredients.  This is an authentic Mexican Menudo Colorado recipe.  Its not the only authentic menudo colorado recipe, because every family has their own way of making menudo!  Don't be afraid to add your own personal touch, because that is what makes menudo so special!  Yum!  ...  Shawna