cooking dried homminy

Forums: Homminy, Recipes, Food
Email this Topic • Print this Page

I have been cooking dried homminy, and it takes 3 to 4 hours. The goal is for all the kernels to absorb water and burst open, which has been only partially successful. So my question is simple: Will adding salt to the cooking water hasten or delay the absorption
of water, and at what point should the salt be added.

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 4,332 • Replies: 6

No top replies

@coluber2001,

Experts tell you not to add salt to the water when cooking dried beans because it toughens the outer layer and they never get soft.

I would presume the same goes for hominy. I'll look around the internet and see if I can find anything specific to hominy.

1 Reply

@coluber2001,

Is that used in posole? A friend tried to cook posole without soaking the hominy first (probably overnight) and it was, um, unsuccessful.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

Well, this site says to add salt to the cooking water for hominy.

http://www.howany.com/how-to-cook-hominy/

http://www.foodsubs.com/GrainCorn.html

From the Cook's Thesaurus:

Quote:

hominy = posole = pozole Pronunciation: HAHM-uh-nee Equivalents: 1 cup = 165 grams Notes: These are hulled corn kernels that have been stripped of their bran and germ. Southern cooks usually boil whole or ground hominy until it's tender, and then they serve it in much the same way that Northern cooks would serve potatoes. Varieties include lye hominy, which is made by soaking corn kernels in a weak lye bath, and pearl hominy, which is made by crushing corn kernels mechanically. White hominy is made from white corn kernels, and the sweeter yellow hominy is made from yellow. Samp is coarsely ground or broken hominy, while hominy grits are more finely ground. You can buy hominy canned or dried. Substitutes: barley grits OR dried beans (in stews and soups) OR buckwheat grits OR potatoes (as a side dish)

This site looks like it has everything you ever wanted to know about preparing and cooking dry hominy:

http://www.howtomakehominyfromcorn.com/

As far as the cooking time, if you have a pressure cooker, you should be able to cut down on some of the cooking time using it.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Yes re: posole.

The last link I gave has a recipe for it at the very end and gives the step by step method of soaking, etc.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

Thanks, butrflynet. The homminy I'm using is dried, from a Mexican market. The kernels are enlarged, apparantly from being soaked in lime water, but they have a tough skin on them. Canned homminy lacks the skin and is more tender.
I thought about adding salt, but, as you said, that would only toughen the skin. I guess the answer is to either buy canned homminy or continue as I have been doing. The homminy turns out chewy but adequate for my purposes--in stir-fry.

cooking dried homminy

Quick Links

My Account

able2know