Chopper’s Lab: Menudo - not just a boy band!
Most people recoil in horror when they are told what the primary ingredient is in the classic Mexican breakfast dish menudo. No, it’s not Ricky Martin…
The first time I ever tried menudo was at a tiny Mexican cafe in San Diego back in the mid-nineties. My friends told me it was good, and having never heard of it before — I was rather young — I ordered it. Little did I know I was about to have a “Mikey” moment, where my friends were just seeing if I’d eat it. Well, I did, and I really liked it, especially the little tender chewy bits.
“What was that?” I asked my friends as they were about to burst into laughter…
That’s right, beef tripe. Stomach of cow. The funny part for me was that I didn’t mind.
Now, I’ve always been up for a good experiment, so why not try my hand at this culinary gem?
Menudo a la Chopper
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Beef honeycomb tripe
- 1 15 ounce can Yellow hominy
- 4 Red jalapeños, seeded and diced
- 2 teaspoons Coriander seed
- 2 teaspoons Cumin seed
- 1 teaspoon Cloves, whole
- 1 bunch Cilantro, minced
- 1 Pig’s foot
- 2 quarts Chicken broth
- To taste Salt & pepper
Method
- Toast spices in a small, dry pan and grind.
- Wash the tripe thoroughly with luke-warm water, then cut into one inch squares.
- In a pot, bring the broth to a boil and add cut tripe and pig’s foot. Cover tightly, and boil for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
- Add hominy and jalapeños and continue to simmer for another half hour.
- Add spice blend, and half of the minced cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with avocado slices, a crumbling of queso fresco, and a pinch of minced cilantro.
- Serve with warm corn tortillas.
I think I did it justice. It was spicy the way I like it, and the texture was just like I remember. It was good enough for Mrs. D to give it a try. In her words…
First, let me get this out of the way: The tripe terrified me. I mean, look at it. It looks like industrial insulation gone horribly wrong. Or the famous lost hive of the Killer Sea Bees of the Great Barrier Reef. Something entirely inedible, at the very least.
Oh, and it stank. It stank for a rather long time. That “2 to 2 1/2 hours” up there in the directions? Figure on at least half of that time with windows open and fans on high. I can’t quite place the smell — I have to think back, as this dish was one of the last Chopper prepared up on the island — but I imagine it reminded me of the County Fair. And not in a good way.
But then… somewhere around three hours into the process, everything changed. I began to notice the spices, the chiles, the hominy, and at long last the kitchen smelled like dinner.
And I was hungry.
And I chowed down. And it was good. Tripetastically delicious. Indeed, I didn’t have to pretend the tripe wasn’t there, because once it’s cooked (or rather, once it’s been boiled to an inch of its freaky life), tripe is a tender thing that grabs onto it’s little spicy neighbors and makes them taste all the better.
Now, I’m told by various well-informed sources that menudo is the cure for a wicked hangover. We’ll have to keep that in mind, but it will require planning. As in: cook first, party later. I don’t think I need to tell you that boiling tripe while nursing a hangover is not an activity we intend on trying in this or any other lifetime.
A final note: Although we prepared and ate this dish several weeks ago, Chopper just passed the recipe along to me today. Nothing terribly surprising, there — we’ve been horrendously busy with the move — but in the recipe itself, you’ll note an item that I did not mention in my report above: Pig’s foot.
In fact, just an hour or so ago when I glanced at the recipe for the first time, I blinked, stared across our basement cave and said “WTF, PIG’S FOOT??” (Or words to that effect.) You see, I had absolutely no idea Chopper had slipped a pig’s foot into the brew. Truth is, he pulled it (or what was left of it) out before serving, but he tells me that the removal of the pig’s foot is entirely optional and up to the discretion of the menudo master at hand.
Thank you for that one, Chopper. One scary meat at a time.
Chopper sez: So, I’ll consider this experiment in Chopper’s lab a success. What’s next, you may ask… Just wait and see.
MizD sez: Braaaains, I tell you. Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiins. (Hey, what can I say? We’re only seven and a half weeks from Halloween.)
September 9th, 2006 at 7:00 am
Please, don’t mention Halloween. (Ok, that was the fourth grade teacher in me.)
Seriously, my dad loves menudo. It’s something my mother never would make for him so every once in a while we’d go to this wonderful Mexican restaurant in SLC and he’d always order it. Your photo is fabulous. I might actually eat that.
September 10th, 2006 at 1:41 am
If I might misquote Terry Pratchett: “Given enough mustard and fried onions, people will eat anything”.
This sounds like the something the mexican equivalent of cut-me-own-throat dibbler would serve :D
I must admit, though, even though I’ve not had tripe, I do rather like brisket noodles.
September 10th, 2006 at 9:52 am
I don’t know that I have the guts yet to eat tripe, but I loved your description!
September 10th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
I haven’t had menudo yet, but I can’t imagine I wouldn’t like it. I have made my own head cheese from scratch. How could I not be able to manage a little bit of tripe? I will surely use your recipe when I attempt it.
I think I might even still have a pig’s foot in the freezer…
September 11th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Thanks Kalyn! I’m always interested in ways to use “variety meats”. We’re looking to buy a freezer and purchase whole, cut down who lambs and pigs, including offal…
Tunaranch: Well, I did serve it in my “Poacher’s coat” ;-)
Amalthea: Don’t worry, tripe IS guts, you’ll get more by trying it, hehe.
Jamie: If you can do head cheese, Menudo is bush league by comparison. I’ll bet you like it ;-)
September 11th, 2006 at 5:21 pm
You two never cease to amaze me and make me laugh! Congrats on surviving the tripe, Miz D. You are a true winner! Now wait a minute…you’ve moved now to MY Portland? Portland, OREGON? Only 2 short hours away from me? Does this mean I can crash your kitchen sometime and enjoy some of this cooking I’ve been reading about all year?!
September 11th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Michelle: Absolutely! As soon as we get our house back, come on up!
(And we will be taking trips south ourselves. We have TONS of friends in the Eugene area.)
September 12th, 2006 at 5:10 am
This is new to me, as is often the case with your dishes, but I have had tripes before, often, in France and Italy it used to be quite common. And I don’t like it. But I wouldn’t mind the pig’s foot if there’s any left :)
September 12th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Okay, I have never eaten tripe, nor did I ever think I would. But I would eat some of your menudo.
See how much I love you?
September 12th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
Hmmm… looks good (the top picture!), but your food always looks good. If you say it tastes good, then I would try it.
See how much I trust you?
(Apologies to Shauna.)
September 12th, 2006 at 10:28 pm
Glad to see you liked it mrs D, despite the little surprise! My D makes a Polish soup that we both love, even our daughter, we just haven’t told her yet what’s in it. The weird thing in Oz, is that you now have to order tripe, in fact most offal, as it has largely disappeared from the butchers cabinet. Don’t even think supermarket.
September 13th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
Hee hee. Well, Chopper, that means I need to eat tripe at some point to get any guts, so I suppose it’s a reverse vicious cycle. Or somethin. Oy.
September 13th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Tripe is fast becoming popular in European cooking, and could be the way forward. It’s still on my ‘to do’ list though.
I have however also eaten the Polish soup made with tripe, called Flaczki - my wife is Polish. I might even get her to russle up a recipe for me to try!
September 13th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
So what does the pig’s foot add to the mix, and would you really want a foot staring up from the bowl when nursing a hangover?
By the way, welcome to Portland! Just moved as well :-)
September 13th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Gracianne, it sounds like Chopper needs to work on a Pig’s Feet recipe next!
Shauna, xxox. :-)
Kimberly, now wouldn’t it just be nifty to christen your new kitchen with tripe? (kidding, kidding… kinda sorta…)
Taco, that’s surprising about hard-to-find tripe in Oz. I wonder if it’s one of those annoying American things that’s spreading abroad (save for in Europe, as Scott mentions).
Lady A, after seeing some of the Asian market meat counter items Chopper wants to try next, I think I’ll be the gutless wonder.
Hey Scott, we’ve got a Polish fest coming up here in Portland in a week and a half or so. Chopper’s part Polish (and loves his pierogi), so we’re sure to attend. I will keep my eye out for Flackzi!
Kathy, I’ll let Chopper answer the pig’s foot question in a moment. Thanks for the welcome to Portland! I should mention (seeing that you’re a knitter) that our house is just a short walk from the new yarn shop, Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks, in Sellwood. I haven’t checked the place out yet, but I will soon — especially after my belongings are unpacked and I can retrieve my carders & drop spindle!
September 14th, 2006 at 10:25 am
Hey Kathy! The pig’s foot is there mostly for fat and gelatin, to add body and deapth to the broth. But, it’s totally edible (and quite tasty) as well.
September 14th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Oh! oh! yeah! DO come down to Eugene! And should you tire of your OLD friends while you’re here…we would graciously take you in and become your NEW friends…we’ll even cook for you (if Chopper promises not to judge my meager beginner cooking ability)…
September 14th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
I’ve just downloaded the recipe and was wondering if I could sub polenta for the hominy which is generally unavailable here? Would I need to cook it first? And do you roll it up in the tortilla or tear pieces off and just grab a hunk? I’m such a virgin!
September 18th, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Hey Neil! Sorry this took so long…
I wouldn’t use polenta for this, but pinto beans would make an adequate substitute for the hominy.
Hope that helps :-)