Vegan Mexican Menudo Food

VEGAN MEXICAN MENUDO

Steps:

• Place tomatoes and ancho peppers in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Let soak in the hot water for 5 minutes more.
• Transfer tomatoes, ancho peppers, and 1/2 cup water into a blender. Cover and hold lid down with a potholder; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend. Strain sauce through a sieve, discarding the solids.
• Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Crush garlic with cumin in a bowl and add to the hot pan. Cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms; cook and stir until soft, about 5 minutes. Pour tomato sauce over the mushrooms and season with salt. Let simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let soup simmer until flavors meld, about 15 minutes.
• Pour soup into individual bowls; garnish with onion and oregano. Serve with lime wedges and red pepper flakes on the side.

VEGAN MENUDO WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low. Add chiles and cook, turning constantly with tongs, until slightly darkened in color and fragrant, about 3 minutes. (Be careful not to burn chiles or they'll become bitter.) Transfer chiles to a medium bowl, leaving oil behind in skillet; reserve skillet. Pour 3 cups hot water (6 cups if doubling base recipe) over chiles and weigh down chiles with a smaller bowl to keep submerged. Let soak until softened, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook onion, garlic, and salt in reserved skillet, stirring occasionally, until browned and slightly softened, 12-15 minutes. Add oregano and cumin and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer onion mixture to a blender.
• Add chiles and 1 cup chile soaking liquid to blender and purée, adding more soaking liquid if needed, until smooth. (If you don't have a high-powered blender, you may want to pass purée through a fine-mesh sieve.) You should have 2½ cups chile base. If you have less, add more chile soaking liquid and blend again to combine. Do ahead: Chile base can be made 5 days ahead. Let cool; transfer to an airtight container and chill, or freeze up to 3 months.
• Drain hominy and place in a large pot; pour in fresh water to cover by 2". Season generously with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and partially cover. Simmer, adding more water as needed to keep hominy covered by 2", until hominy is tender and blooming (maize has burst), 1½-2 hours.
• Bring broth to a boil in a medium pot over medium-low heat; season with salt. Add mushrooms, remove from heat, and let sit until mushrooms are softened, 10-20 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer, mushrooms to a cutting board. Cut mushrooms into bite-size pieces with a chef's knife or kitchen shears and add to hominy along with broth, chile base, and 2 Tbsp. dried oregano. If the soup is very thick, add water to loosen. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until flavors meld, 20-30 minutes. Taste menudo and season with more salt if needed.
• Divide menudo among bowls. Top with onion, cilantro, red pepper flakes, and more oregano. Serve with tortillas and lime wedges for squeezing over. Do ahead: Menudo can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool; transfer to an airtight container and chill. Hominy will continue to soak up liquid as it rests, so you may need to add more water or broth when reheating.