A Long Soak Brings Out Hominy's Earthy Flavor DRIED hominy has long been at the top of my must-cook list. I adore the chewy, earthy corn kernels in pozole, the chile-laced Latin American stew. But because the canned stuff is just so convenient, and much easier to find in my neighborhood than the dried kernels, I always end up taking that shortcut. A few months ago, though, when I saw dried heirloom hominy for sale online at Rancho Gordo, I bought some. I knew that having it in the cupboard when a hominy craving struck was the best insurance against cheating. And sure enough, that craving came on once I opened the package and saw the plump white kernels. I had recently spotted a pozole recipe in a cookbook by the San Francisco chef Mitchell Rosenthal, "Cooking My Way Back Home," that just used pork shoulder, a k a pork butt, instead of the combination of hard-to-find cuts (including pig feet and head) I've seen in more elaborate versions of the dish. Mr. Rosenthal's recipe gave me license to do the same. Pork shoulder is an easy cut to find and would make for a substantial stew. Like dried beans, dried hominy needs a good long soak and a lengthy cooking. But there's nothing difficult about the process. In fact, all the hard stuff has been done for you. Before they are sold, the whole dried corn kernels are treated with an alkaline mixture that helps remove the husk and makes the corn more digestible. Traditional cultures used wood or other kinds of ash for this, and the process could take all day. So really, a little soaking and simmering is nothing to complain about. Many pozole recipes call for the finished stew to be garnished with shredded cabbage. But after binging on cabbage recently, I decided to take a different route, and stirred slivered collard greens into the pot at the end of cooking. They turned silky and soft and offered a nice contrast to the starchy little pillows of hominy, the brawny pork and the spicy thick broth. For a colorful garnish, I stuck with the classic radishes, avocados, cilantro and lime wedges, which helped bring all the flavors together. And as for the dried hominy kernels themselves, they were legions better - firmer, sweeter and not at all gummy - than the canned kind. A worthwhile addition to anyone's must-cook list.