Red Chile Menudo, also known as Pancita is a traditional Mexican soup, made with a cow's stomach (tripe) in broth with a red chile pepper base.
Red Chile Menudo is typically served with chopped raw onions, oregano, diced chiles, and lemon or lime segments along with corn or flour tortillas.
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| Red Chile (Panchita-Book Tripe) Menudo |
Eating Menudo on New Year's Day has become a Mexican-American tradition, probably because it's considered by Latin Americans a surefire cure for a hangover.
Menudo is traditionally a family food meal prepared by the entire family and often serves as an occasion for social interactions such as after weddings, baptisms, birthdays, and holidays.
This Red Chile Menudo recipe is a basic beginner's recipe, traditionally many Mexican cooks add patas (beef feet) to their Menudo, 2 types of tripe, and use guajillo chiles. When the holidays come around, I usually make a more traditional Menudo, white or red chile Menudo with all the extras. But this basic Menudo is similar to most Menudos served at Mexican restaurants.
Ingredients in Red Chile Menudo
- Beef Tripe - I use Honeycomb tripe, but Book Tripe or Pancita is an excellent choice for Menudo. Clean and cut into bite-size pieces
- Hominy - Mexican-style hominy (not white or yellow hominy) you can find cans of Mexican hominy in the ethnic aisle or here
- Garlic - minced
- Oregano - Mexican oregano or regular oregano
- Ground Cumin
- Onion - white onion
- Red Chile Sauce - Homemade Red Chile sauce or store-bought red chile sauce
- Salt - regular salt or sea salt
How do I clean Tripe?
- Place the tripe in a flat layer and use a small knife to scrape away any attached fat. ✽See the Photo below
- 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 one cup of distilled vinegar and three cups of cold water for five minutes. Rinse well under cold running water, removing all the salt. Repeat this process one more time.
- Cut the tripe into bite-size pieces
✽ Scrape the fat off the tripe (in the circle) and place tripe in the vinegar mixture and scrub with salt
Cleaning Tripe
How to Make Red Chile Menudo
How do I clean Tripe?
- Place the tripe in a flat layer and use a small knife to scrape away any attached fat. ✽See the Photo below
- 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 one cup of distilled vinegar and three cups of cold water for five minutes. Rinse well under cold running water, removing all the salt. Repeat this process one more time.
- Cut the tripe into bite-size pieces
✽ Scrape the fat off the tripe (in the circle) and place tripe in the vinegar mixture and scrub with salt
- Place beef tripe into a pot of boiling water, just enough to cover the tripe. Scoop any foam from boiling water
- Add garlic and onions and salt. Cover and cook for about 3 - 4 hours on low heat until the tripe is tender.
- When the tripe is tender add the remaining ingredients including the hominy and cook for about 15 or 20 minutes longer. Add more salt or water if needed.
- This dish goes well with cilantro, diced white onions, red pepper flakes, and a twist of lime.
Note: For white Menudo, leave out red chile sauce.
Red Chile (Honeycomb tripe) Menudo
How to serve Menudo
Serve with warm corn tortillas or bolillo rolls. Top with favorite toppings.
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