Honest to goodness posole verde recipe

Ingredients

• 10 cups water
• 1⁄3 cup food-grade pickling lime
• 1½ cups dried hominy
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2¼ pounds bone-in pork stew meat or bone-in pork shoulder, cut into 3- to 4-inch chunks
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 poblano chiles, seeded and chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1½ pounds fresh tomatillos, husked and chopped
• 4 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
• Up to ½ cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lime juice

1. Combine the water and pickling lime in a large stockpot and stir over high heat until the lime dissolves. Bring the mixture to a full boil, then cover and let it stand off the heat for 4 hours. Set a fine-mesh sieve or a colander lined with a large coffee filter over a big bowl; slowly pour in the contents of the pot to strain out the scum—however, stop pouring when you reach the white grainy sludge in the bottom of the pot. Discard what’s in both the strainer and the pot. Wash the pot. Pour the strained liquid back into the pot.
2. Add the hominy and bring it all to a full boil over high heat. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and set it aside for at least 12 and up to 18 hours.
3. Bring it back to a boil and simmer until the hominy is tender, 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours. Drain in a colander set in the sink and rinse under cold water. As the water runs over the hominy kernels, rub them between your hands to get rid of the little bits of translucent outer hull, about like tiny insect wings. Rinse the hominy well to get rid of any residual pickling lime; set aside. The brown germ on the kernels should be kept—it’s delicious!
4. Wash and dry the stockpot, then set it back over medium heat. Add the oil, then the meat. Brown the meat on all sides, taking care to turn the pieces with long-handled tongs so as not to break them up or tear them too much. It’ll take 8 to 10 minutes to get the meat well browned on all sides. Transfer the pieces to a large plate.
5. Add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring often, until softened somewhat, about 4 minutes. Add the chiles and garlic; stir over the heat about 1 minute—then dump in all the tomatillos. Continue stirring over the heat until they soften and begin to break down, about 8 minutes.
6. Pour in the broth. Stir in the drained hominy and the browned meat, as well as any accumulated juices on that plate, plus the cilantro, oregano, cumin, and salt. Bring to a full simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly until the meat is falling off the bone, up to 3 hours.
7. Fish the meat out of the pot with a slotted spoon. Cool for a few minutes, then remove the bones and chop up the remaining meat. Stir this back into the pot with the lime juice. As the pot comes back up to a good simmer just before you ladle it up, check to see if it needs additional salt—or pass more on the side at the table.