Menudo is a popular Mexican soup which is often referred to the hangover cure, most likely because it is warm, tasty and has a bit of a kick from the chiles in the broth. Although there are many ways to make the soup, this recipe is quite comprehensive: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/menudo-rojo-red-menudo/Detail.aspx. The red menudo has a red chile base and known to be the more traditional, whereas the white menudo’s broth is more clear because the base is garlic. Whichever style you prefer, the main trick to cooking menudo is to clean the tripe well, cut the tripe into small pieces and cook the tripe long enough to make it tender. As you can see, the cooking time in this recipe is long but it is in preparing the tripe, rather than the soup itself. If you take your time in getting the tripe right, your menudo will be great.

The history of menudo is much like the history of many traditional dishes, for economical reasons. Whether people were poor or food was scarce, one needed to utilize every part of the animal they could so most likely menudo was born from this theory and the reason for the added chiles is to make the tripe more palatable. In any case, menudo is a much loved dish, easy to make and very economical.