Menudo Rojo Norteño

Ingredients

• 2 kg honeycomb beef tripe, cleaned
• 1 beef foot, split by the butcher, about 800 g
• 5 litres water
• 1 head of garlic, halved across the middle
• 1 large white onion, halved
• 8 guajillo chillies, stemmed and seeded
• 4 ancho chillies, stemmed and seeded
• 3 chiles de arbol, stemmed
• 1 tbsp dried Mexican oregano
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 800 g cooked hominy, drained
• 1 tbsp fine salt
• 1 white onion, finely diced, to serve
• 4 limes, cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp dried Mexican oregano, to serve
• 2 tbsp crushed chile piquin, to serve
• 16 corn tortillas

Before you cook

• Rinse the tripe under cold running water, rubbing it with coarse salt, then rinse it again until the water runs clear.
• Cut the tripe into 4 cm squares.
• Rinse the beef foot pieces well.
• Stem and seed the guajillo and ancho chillies.
• Dice the second onion and set it out with the lime wedges, oregano and chile piquin for the table.

Steps

1. Put the tripe and beef foot in a large stockpot and cover them with the water.
2. Bring the pot to a rolling boil and skim off the grey foam that rises for the first 10 minutes.
3. Add the halved garlic and halved onion to the pot.
4. Lower the heat until the surface barely trembles and cover the pot.
5. Simmer for 3 hours, checking the water level every hour and topping it up to keep everything submerged.
6. Toast the guajillo, ancho and arbol chillies in a dry frying pan for 45 seconds a side, until they smell sweet and smoky.
7. Put the toasted chillies in a bowl and cover them with hot broth from the pot.
8. Soak the chillies for 20 minutes, keeping them pushed under.
9. Blend the soaked chillies with the cumin, the tablespoon of oregano and 300 ml of broth until smooth.
10. Strain the chilli purée into the pot through a fine sieve, pressing hard on the solids.
11. Add the salt and stir the broth well.
12. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, until the tripe is tender enough to bite through easily and the broth has turned deep red.
13. Lift out the beef foot, pull the soft meat and skin from the bones and return them to the pot.
14. Add the hominy and simmer for 15 minutes more.
15. Taste the broth and add salt until it tastes full rather than flat.
16. Ladle the menudo into deep bowls.
17. Serve with diced onion, oregano, crushed chile piquin, lime wedges and hot corn tortillas.