Welcome to the Sonoran kitchen, where chef Minerva Orduño Rincón shares the history of the Sonoran Desert from her Tempe kitchen, one recipe at a time.
Minerva Orduño Rincón| Special for The Arizona Republic
A Sonoran soup exists for every desire and occasion. Soups of wild greens studded with chickpeas, corn and cheese made richer with the addition of milk, thick cream of carrot, earthy bean stews, red pozoles topped with mounds of lettuce and radishes and ‘poor’ pozoles made with grains and just enough bits of beef and bones to add an unmistakable extra.
One particular Mexican soup is especially revered, touted as a magical hangover cure and trotted out for many a holiday and family get togethers. It’s a soup I’ve always found difficult to swallow or, more accurately, to smell. Yes, I’m talking about the dreaded, stinking bowl of menudo.
There, I said it. It stinks.
Menudo is often requested with ‘puros granitos’ or ‘sin pancitas por favor.’ Grains only, referring to the nixtamal, or without tripe, as though boiling the cow stomach, but omitting it from the bowl will somehow remove the gastric stink.
It won’t.
Sonoran gastronomy is nearly magical in its ability to draw out complexity from any ingredient through simple cooking methods that create something greater than the sum of its parts, but the magic draws a hard line at tripe.
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What is menudo?
Menudo, like many rural dishes found globally, was created as a way to utilize those parts of the cow that may not have been considered the most delectable and give it a purpose. Organ meat, such as tripe, is nutritionally dense, rich in minerals and protein and deserves better than to be wasted.
Good menudo is a clear broth with just the barest hint of a gelatinous thickness, which pleasantly sticks to the palate. Depending on how much tripe is added into the soup, a slight mineral quality comes through in the broth, but largely it is the earthy sweetness of corn that should dominate.
A better menudo starts with properly prepared tripe
The problem is not in the ingredient itself – honeycomb tripe –but the technique used to make it and the cut used for menudo.
Let’s start with the first issue. Menudo combines a rather absorbent ingredient—dry corn reconstituted in an alkali solution or nixtamal—with a potentially foul smelling, always chewy organ meat cut into large squares. These two elements have to simmer together until the tripe is tender. The result is a soup that not only fails to soften the chewiness of the tripe, but also infuses the broth and nixtamal with the natural and expected stink of a cow’s digestive system.
Appealing, isn’t it? Still, when cooked properly, tripe is not just perfectly edible, it can be deeply satisfying and nutritionally rich.
Let me deliver here my most sincere apologies for the sacrilege I am committing, both culturally and gastronomically, but I beg you to throw out the traditional method of cooking the tripe in the soup for something better.
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To prove that the problem is not in the tripe itself, but the method in which it’s cooked, just look at the thin strips of tripe twisted along with the noodles in a bowl of beef phở. They can be eaten without endless chewing or foul scent. Also consider the Roman classic, trippa alla Romana, which presents thin slices of lusciously tender tripe bathed in a rich tomato sauce served under a mound of parmigiano reggiano with a slice of toasted bread to soak up the sauce. No complaints.
There are two things these dishes have in common and they are the keys to tripe success: first, thin slicing to minimize chew and, second, cooking the tripe separately from the finished product.
These two steps alone will lead to a menudo with a more appealing scent. My own additional tip for the cleanest tasting and smelling menudo you’ve ever made is to give the tripe a salt and distilled vinegar body scrub before cooking in water seasoned with salt and vinegar, which will neutralize any lingering, unpleasant odors.
Is menudo worth all this effort?
Absolutely. There is nothing more satisfying than a thoughtfully made dish that pays respect to the animal’s sacrifice and to the culture and gastronomy willing to waste nothing.
How to clean and cooktripe
Tripe can be easily found in Mexican and Asian grocery stores, honeycomb and book or leaf tripe are the most common. These are the second and third stomachs respectively, and both may be used for menudo, but stick to just one type, as they do differ in texture and cooking time.
It is best to buy the tripe in large pieces, rather than already portioned, to make cleaning easier. While cleaning, the use of food safe gloves is recommended.
- Place the tripe in a flat layer and use a small knife to scrape away any attached fat.
- Use a small handful of kosher salt to scrub the tripe thoroughly, being sure to include honeycomb pockets.
- Soak the scrubbed tripe in a mixture of onecup distilled vinegar and threecups cold water for fiveminutes. Rinse well under cold running water, removing all the salt. Repeat this process one more time.
- After the second rinse, check the tripe for any other traces of attached fat and remove as needed.
- Place the clean tripe in sauce or stock pot and cover with at least twoinches of cold water. Add ¼ cup distilled vinegar and oneteaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a steady simmer and cook until the tripe has softened, but still retains some chew, about oneto two and a halfhours, depending on the type of tripe.
- To test for doneness, slice a thin piece of the meat, about half an inch, and allow to cool for a few minutes before tasting. The tripe should have a consistency similar to chewy rice or tapioca.
- When tender, remove tripe from the cooking liquid and allow to come to room temperature before cutting into ½-inch by two-inch pieces.
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Recipe: How to make menudo blanco estilo Sonora
Nixtamal, already partially cooked for menudo or pozole, is readily available at Mexican grocery stores and requires only a good rinse and picking through to remove any damaged grains before cooking.
Makes: 6 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds nixtamal
- 1 large white onion, cut in half
- 1 head of garlic, cut in half
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon dry Mexican oregano
- 2 pounds honeycomb or book tripe, cleaned with salt and white vinegar and cooked
- Kosher salt, as needed
For serving:
- chopped white onion
- chopped cilantro
- chile tatemado, roasted anaheim chile, cut in strips or chopped
- thinly sliced radish
- shredded iceberg lettuce
- chiltepín pepper
- lime wedges
Preparation:
- Rinse nixtamal well, removing any damaged or off color grains. Place in a large stock pot along with the white onion and garlic. Note: the onion and garlic skins need not be removed unless off in appearance. Add 3 quarts of water and bring to a steady simmer, removing any scum or impurities that rise to the top. Once simmering well, add bay leaves and Mexican oregano.
- Cook nixtamal loosely covered until softened enough to just begin bursting, approximately 2 hours. If the pot begins to run dry, add hot water. A small amount of reduction in the cooking liquid is desirable to concentrate flavors.
- After 2 hours, once the nixtamal begins to soften, add sliced tripe and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Taste the soup and adjust the flavor by adding salt as needed, 1 teaspoon at a time, allowing the seasoning to dissolve before retesting.
- The cooked onion and garlic may be discarded or left in the soup, according to personal taste, though they will mostly dissolve into the broth.
- To serve the menudo, top with any or all of the following ingredients: chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, chile tatemado (roasted anaheim chile) cut in strips or chopped, thinly sliced radish and shredded iceberg lettuce. Additionally, the ever present fiery chiltepín and tart lime wedges add some much needed brightness.
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Questions or comments? Email the culinary team atcooking@azcentral.com.Follow chef Minerva Orduño Rincón on Instagram@cucumbersandlimes.
