Menudo Rojo [Red-chile Tripe Soup with Fresh Garnishes] (AM)

• 2 pounds beef tripe
• About 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 large lime, juiced
• 1 small cow's or medium pig's foot, split lengthwise
• 1 pound marrow bones, cut in 1-inch cross sections
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 4 medium (about 1 1/3 ounces total) dried chiles cascabeles nortenos or California/New Mexico chiles, stemmed, seeded and deveined [Couldn't find those special peppers.  Used New Mexico chiles instead.]
• a general 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground
• Salt, about 1 teaspoon

Wash tripe in multiple changes of warm water.  Sprinkle over with salt and lime juice and scrub the tripe vigorously against itself.  Let sit for 30 minutes.

By this time, the tripe is actually starting to smell a bit funky, but you're going to have to do the multiple changes of warm water stuff all over again anyway.

Cut tripe into pieces about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes, then drain.

I suspect there are quite a lot of ways to clean tripe.

Add more water, the marrow bones, and the pig's foot.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and skim off the foam for a few minutes.

Add half of the garlic along with the onion and oregano.  Partially cover and simmer until tripe is tender, 2-3 hours.  I used Mexican oregano since after all this is a Mexican dish.  I might have blanked on getting the oregano in the pot, but it was disappointing to pick out all these still unsoftened herbs out of the dish when I ate it.

Toasting the chiles.  I may have over toasted some of them.

Soak toasted chiles in boiling water for 30 minutes.  I think the overtoasted ones resisted complete softening.

Blend chiles, 1/3 cup menudo broth, remaining garlic, and cumin.

Strain through a sieve into the stockpot.

I knew I was taking a risk by making a dish that is far from being a "whole" meal, but I've been curious about this dish for a while and honestly where am I going to be able to order this?

The dish is often eaten for breakfast and is considered a hangover cure by some.  I did feel as if the dish felt pretty restorative, but since it didn't seem to make sense as something that I would bring to work and eat on its own for lunch, I wound up throwing a lot out.  By the fifth day, the texture of the tripe had softened so much that it was simply disagreeable to me.  After a lifetime of eating dim sum tripe, I think this cut of an animal should spring back in your mouth at least a little.

All in all, it wasn't a total failure, but it definitely wasn't a dish that falls under my usual criterion for actually wanting to execute something with the good faith that I might eat most of it.  Amusingly enough, for 10 seconds I tried to listen to Menudo while preparing menudo.  This did not work.

Oh and I guess I'm thankful that unlike some traditional recipes I had heard of while googling this dish, Rick Bayless's recipe does not take 7 hours to make.