How to Make Nixtamalized Hominy

Introduction

Recently, I purchased 25 pounds of organic yellow dent corn from Great River Organic Milling through Amazon as I wanted to try out different corn recipes.

While I found ways to make masa harina from scratch, corn tortillas as well as cornbread, the simplest and most versatile recipe I tried out was nixtamalized hominy.

What is hominy?

Hominy in its simplest form is any dried corn that has been soaked then simmered until it achieves an extensively hydrated, chewy state.

Until a few years ago, I had never even heard of hominy.

As a former New Yorker, this traditional Southern food never made it to my plate.

But as I became more interested in whole grains, I learned about corn as a staple in Native American cooking and later in Southern United States cooking.

A few years back, my husband and I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture in Tampa by Sue Becker, author of The Essential Home Ground Flour Book.

Sue Becker’s lecture focused on the benefits of whole grains and she shared how a pellagra epidemic occurred in the Southern U.S. in the early 1900s because of the shift to using niacin deficient sifted wheat flour as well as using improperly processed corn.

Sue Becker made the point that while sifted wheat and corn flours started to be enriched with niacin and other trace nutrients in the 1940s, what was added back in nutrients was only a fraction of what was removed through sifting.

What was puzzling to some researchers studying pellagra was that Native Americans whose diet consisted largely of corn did not suffer from pellagra in contrast to U.S. Southerners of European and African descent who had an equivalent amount of corn in their diet.

As it turns out, the difference was due to nixtamalization – the way in which the Native Americans processed their corn.

What is nixtamalization?

Nixtamalization is the use of an alkaline solution to soften dried corn and make it more digestible.

According to the site allthingshominy.com, most corns can be nixtamalized except for fresh sweet corn.

During nixtamalization many nutrients become more bio available.

For example the niacytin in the corn is turned into bio available niacin (vitamin B3) – a necessary human nutrient.

Throughout history, many types of alkaline solutions were used including lye from wood ash and slaked lime from limestone.

For this recipe, slaked lime, aka pickling lime is used as it can be easily sourced and provides a flavorful finished product.

Uses of nixtamalized hominy

Hominy can be used as a main starch for a meal.

When combined with beans, it provides an economic, nutritious, filling, complete protein.

The final product has a delicious nutty flavor similar to that of authentic corn tortillas.

Hominy is commonly used in Mexican recipes where it is called “pozole.”

While the total preparation time can take a day or more – most of that time is for soaking and simmering the corn.

The actual hands on time is relatively small – no more than 30 minutes.

The nixtamal recipe I took my inspiration from is by Hank Shaw.

Note that while pickling lime is caustic, the diluted liquid is mild enough to be handled with bare hands for short periods of time.

The lime water can be disposed of in the sink or added to your compost.

If your skin is particularly sensitive, then use gloves.

Hominy can be prepared in bulk and frozen into smaller portions that will keep for at least 3 months.

Below are instructions for making nixtamalized hominy.

Please note main measurements are provided in the metric system to allow you to more easily scale the recipe up or down as needed.

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