Traditional Mexican Pork Stew

Pour 3 cups of water into a medium-sized pot and toss in your guajillo, ancho, and árbol chiles. Crank up the heat until it boils, then pop a lid on it, turn off the heat, and let those chiles soften up for about 15 minutes.

Once your chiles are nice and soft, carefully move them along with the soaking water into your blender. Add the rest of the water, plus your chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic cloves, and that bit of Mexican chocolate if you're using it. Blend everything on high for 2-3 minutes until it's silky smooth and set it aside.

Take your pork chunks and coat them generously with salt and freshly ground pepper on all sides. Heat up the oil in a big pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, add your pork pieces and let them get a beautiful golden-brown crust on every side.

Pour your gorgeous red chile sauce right into the pot with the meat. Grab a wooden spoon and scrape up all those tasty browned bits stuck to the bottom. Then stir in your broth, the drained hominy, and sprinkle in that dried oregano.

Get the pot bubbling at a boil, then dial the heat way down to low. Cover it up and let it simmer gently for about 2 ½ hours. You'll know it's ready when the pork is so tender it practically falls apart when you look at it.

Use a fork or tongs to shred that pork right in the pot - it should pull apart effortlessly. Give it a taste and add more salt if it needs it.

Ladle the pozole into bowls and let everyone load up their bowl with their favorite toppings like shredded cabbage, fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lime, crunchy radishes, diced onions, and a pinch of oregano.