Menudo Soup Recipe

Clean tripe

Rinse the tripe thoroughly under cold running water. Trim any excess fat. Rub the tripe with coarse salt and a little vinegar, then rinse again. Cut the tripe into 1–1.5 inch strips and set aside.

Parboil tripe (optional but recommended)

Place the cut tripe into a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes to remove impurities. Drain and rinse the tripe under cold water. This step reduces strong odors and yields a cleaner broth.

In a large stockpot (at least 8–10 liters), add the cleaned tripe, beef pata pieces, 6 liters of water, halved onion, smashed garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and 2 tsp salt. Bring to a gentle boil over high heat, then reduce to a low simmer.

Simmer, partially covered, for 2.5 to 3 hours until the pata is very tender and the tripe is tender but not falling apart. Skim foam occasionally. If using a pressure cooker, cook for 45–60 minutes after reaching pressure.

When both meats are tender, fish out the pata pieces and set aside to cool slightly. Remove the onion, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns by straining the broth through a fine mesh sieve into another pot. Reserve the strained solids discarded; keep the clear broth.

Remove the bones from the pata pieces, shred or cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and return the meat to the strained broth along with the cooked tripe strips.

Toast chiles briefly: Heat a dry skillet over medium heat and toast the guajillo and ancho chiles for 10–20 seconds per side until fragrant but not burned. Remove and let cool.

Soak chiles in hot water for 15 minutes until softened. Reserve 250 ml of the soaking water (or hot stock) for blending.

In the same skillet, add 2 tsp oil and lightly brown the quartered onion and 3 garlic cloves (about 1–2 minutes) to soften and add depth—do not burn. Transfer chiles, toasted onion, garlic, and 250 ml hot stock to a blender. Blend until very smooth.

Pass the chile purée through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Stir in 1 tsp salt.

Add the strained chile sauce to the broth with the tripe and pata. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 20–30 minutes to marry flavors. Taste and adjust salt.

If using canned hominy: drain and rinse. Add hominy to the simmering broth. If using dried/precooked hominy, add according to package instructions and simmer until tender—generally 30–60 minutes.

Stir in 2 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, and additional 1 tsp salt (adjust to taste). Continue simmering for 20–30 minutes so hominy absorbs flavor and all components are tender and cohesive.

Ladle the menudo into warmed bowls making sure each bowl gets a mix of pata meat, tripe, and hominy. Offer chopped raw white onion, chopped cilantro, extra dried oregano, lime wedges, and crushed red pepper or chopped chiles on the side so diners can garnish to taste.

Serve immediately with warm handmade corn tortillas (12 tortillas) for scooping. Leftovers keep well refrigerated for 2–3 days and often taste better the next day as flavors meld. Reheat gently on the stovetop; add a splash of water or stock if broth reduces.