The Mexican soup made from beef tripe, hominy, and red chili peppers is called menudo. It is a traditional soup whose defining ingredient is cow’s stomach, or tripe, cooked in a chili-based broth.
Menudo rojo gets its red color and flavor from dried red chiles. In northern Mexico, hominy is commonly added, while garnishes often include chopped onion, cilantro, oregano, serrano chiles, and lime. The tripe requires several hours of cooking, so menudo is frequently prepared communally for weekends, holidays, and family gatherings.
Regional versions vary considerably. Menudo blanco omits the red chiles and has a pale broth; in some places, the dish is called pancita, panza, or mondongo. The soup is also widely associated with hangover recovery, though that reputation is cultural rather than proof of a medical effect.
Menudo is often confused with pozole because both can contain hominy and are Mexican soups. Pozole is generally made with pork or chicken and has large hominy kernels, whereas menudo is defined by tripe. Caldo de res is beef soup but does not have menudo’s characteristic tripe-and-chile identity.