What a great recipe from our guest foodie, Valerie Coxe. Thank you so much for sharing your childhood memories and a favorite soup!
I have great memories of going down to Mexico to visit my Nana and Tata. There was always an abundance of good homemade food at their house, and it didn’t matter if it was the middle of winter or the middle of summer, this particular soup was the perfect thing to fill us kids up and give us the fuel we needed to go back outside to play.
I remember coming into the house and instantly being filled with the comforting smell of aromatic vegetables, herbs and beef simmering on the stove.
Doing the cooking myself now I find myself pausing for a moment to take in the hearty aroma of good soup as it fills my own kitchen. It makes me thankful for our ability to be able to capture memories through food.
Gallina Pinta is a dish regional to the Mexican state of Sonora. This flavorful soup contains beef, pinto beans, and hominy. The name Gallina Pinta translates to painted or speckled chicken. Despite the word “chicken” being in the name, this dish actually contains no chicken and is traditionally cooked with different cuts of beef. The name comes from the dish resembling a colorful hen once fully garnished.
The broth for this soup gets its flavor from the cuts of beef (oxtail being one of them) and an array of vegetables and herbs. And as different as that might sound to many, trust me when I say that if you want a deep and richly flavored broth with bold beef flavor then using oxtail is the way to go.
To garnish use chopped onion, cilantro, crushed chiltepine or pequin chiles, and a squeeze of lime. You can also add salsa or your favorite hot sauce for more spice. Crushed red pepper works well too.
For the beef in this recipe, I use sirloin steak while my mom prefers using filet mignon. Really any good cut of beef works well. I would suggest using whatever suits your family best.
Gallina Pinta is the perfect soup to warm you up on a cold winter’s day. Although anyone who grew up Hispanic, knows Mexican moms are notorious for making caldo (soup) in the middle of summer too. Whatever the time of year, you will enjoy making this dish, just as much as eating it!
Ingredients & Preparation
The Usual Suspects:
For the Soup:
- 1 lb. Good quality meat like sirloin steak, tenderloin, filet mignon, chuck roast or Chamorro (beef shank)
- 1.5 lbs. oxtail
- Around 12 cups of water depending on how much broth you want
- 1 lb. pinto beans, sorted, rinsed and soaked for 5-6 hours
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1 plum tomato
- 1 white whole onion, peeled
- 1 whole head of garlic, with some of the top cut off
- 1 Chile Verde (Anaheim), stemmed and seeded
- 1 Guajillo Chile, stemmed and seeded
- Green Onions, about 4-5 stems
- Cilantro, around 8 stems
- 30 oz. can cooked white hominy. I use a can and a half since it’s my favorite part
- 2 tablespoons of Caldo de Pollo or any other chicken bouillon brand
- Salt according to taste. I used around 1 tsp. to 1 1/2 tsp.
Garnishes:
- Chopped White Onion
- Chopped Oregano
- Lime Wedges
- Chiltepin/Pequin Peppers
- Salsa or hot sauce optional
The Plan:
Place pieces of beef and oxtail in a large stock pot and add water.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Removing any foam that forms.
Drain the pinto beans. Set aside.
Once foam has been removed, add the already pre-soaked and drained pinto beans, bay leaves, Mexican oregano, tomato, the peeled whole white onion, the head of garlic, the red and the green chiles, the green onions and cilantro.
Reduce heat to medium low and cover pot with lid.
Set a timer to 1 1/2 hours.
Check pot occasionally to skim and discard any foam that develops on the top and to stir the pot.
After 1 1/2 hours have passed check beans. They should be semi soft.
Add canned hominy, caldo de pollo, and salt.
Stir in then cover pot with lid and continue to simmer on medium low heat for another 30 minutes.
Continue to check occasionally.
After 30 minutes take lid off and begin removing all the vegetables like the whole onion, garlic head, the red and green chili peppers, 2 bay leaves, and plum tomato. Now remove the oxtail pieces from the pot. You can either remove the pieces of meat from the bones and add back to the pot or you can discard them. I usually just discard the whole oxtail pieces and shred the other pieces of beef with two forks. Once loosely shredded add pieces of beef back to the pot. Check pinto beans, they should be tender and soft. If they aren’t quite soft enough cook an additional 20 minutes.
Taste broth and season with more salt, or caldo de pollo if necessary.
Serve hot with garnishes.
Gallina PInta
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Loading...Ingredients
- For soup:
- • 1 lb. Good quality meat like sirloin steak, tenderloin, filet mignon, chuck roast or Chamorro (beef shank)
- • 1.5 lbs. oxtail
- • Around 12 cups of water depending on how much broth you want
- • 1 lb. pinto beans, sorted, rinsed and soaked for 5-6 hours
- • 2 bay leaves
- • 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- • 1 plum tomato
- • 1 white whole onion, peeled
- • 1 whole head of garlic, with some of the top cut off
- • 1 Chile Verde (Anaheim), stemmed and seeded
- • 1 Guajillo Chile, stemmed and seeded
- • Green Onions, about 4-5 stems
- • Cilantro, around 8 stems
- • 30 oz. can cooked white hominy. I use a can and a half since it’s my favorite part
- • 2 tablespoons of Caldo de Pollo or any other chicken bouillon brand
- • Salt according to taste. I used around 1 tsp. to 1 1/2 tsp.
- Garnishes:
- • Chopped White Onion
- • Chopped Oregano
- • Lime Wedges
- • Chiltepin/Pequin Peppers
- • Salsa or hot sauce optional
Instructions
Place pieces of beef and oxtail in a large stock pot and add water.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Removing any foam that forms.
Drain the pinto beans. Set aside.
Once foam has been removed, add the already pre-soaked and drained pinto beans, bay leaves, Mexican oregano, tomato, the peeled whole white onion, the head of garlic, the red and the green chiles, the green onions and cilantro.
Reduce heat to medium low and cover pot with lid.
Set a timer to 1 1/2 hours.
Check pot occasionally to skim and discard any foam that develops on the top and to stir the pot.
After 1 1/2 hours have passed check beans. They should be semi soft.
Add canned hominy, caldo de pollo, and salt.
Stir in then cover pot with lid and continue to simmer on medium low heat for another 30 minutes.
Continue to check occasionally.
After 30 minutes take lid off and begin removing all the vegetables like the whole onion, garlic head, the red and green chili peppers, 2 bay leaves, and plum tomato. Now remove the oxtail pieces from the pot. You can either remove the pieces of meat from the bones and add back to the pot or you can discard them. I usually just discard the whole oxtail pieces and shred the other pieces of beef with two forks. Once loosely shredded add pieces of beef back to the pot. Check pinto beans, they should be tender and soft. If they aren’t quite soft enough cook an additional 20 minutes.
Taste broth and season with more salt, or caldo de pollo if necessary.
Serve hot with garnishes.
