Sopa de Lima

The peel steeped in the broth and lifted out within ten minutes, because the pith turns the whole pot bitter.

Chicken, Turkey. Not vegetarian — contains chicken, turkey.

Ingredients

the broth

• 1 kg chicken or turkey thighs, on the bone
• 2 litres water
• 1 onion, halved
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons salt

the lime

• 4 limes
• juice of 4 more limes

the rest

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 green pepper, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 habanero, left whole
• 2 tablespoons oil

on top

• 8 corn tortillas, as on their own page, a day old, in fine strips
• oil, for frying the strips
• lime slices

Method

1. THE PEEL IS STEEPED IN THE BROTH AND LIFTED OUT WITHIN TEN MINUTES, because the pith turns the whole pot bitter. The flavour this soup is named for is in the oil of the peel, not in the juice -- the juice is sharp and goes in separately at the end. Four limes are pared in wide strips, taking as little white as possible, and dropped into the hot broth off the heat. Ten minutes and the broth smells unmistakably of lime; fifteen and a faint bitterness has started; half an hour and the pot has a hard medicinal edge that no amount of salt or sugar covers. So it is timed, and the peel comes out, and the soup is finished without it.
2. THE PEEL IS PARED THIN AND THE PITH AVOIDED. A vegetable peeler rather than a knife, taking the coloured layer and leaving the white behind. Thick peel with pith attached goes bitter in five minutes rather than fifteen, which halves an already short window.
3. THE JUICE GOES IN OFF THE HEAT AND AT THE VERY END. Simmered, lime juice loses its brightness and keeps only its sourness, and the soup tastes flatly acid. In after the pot has come off the stove, it is sharp and alive.
4. THE TORTILLA STRIPS ARE FRIED AND KEPT COMPLETELY SEPARATE. Cut fine from day-old tortillas, fried twenty seconds, drained, and put on the table in a bowl. In the pot they go soft within a minute and thicken the broth; scattered on each bowl as it is eaten they stay crisp for the first half of the bowl, which is the point of them.
5. THE HABANERO GOES IN WHOLE AND COMES OUT. One, unpierced, for the last ten minutes. It gives the perfume without the heat, in a soup where heat would fight the lime.
6. The chicken put in a pot with the water, onion halves, garlic, bay, oregano and salt. Brought slowly to the boil and SKIMMED.
7. Simmered 35 MINUTES. The chicken lifted out and shredded; the broth STRAINED and returned to a clean pot.
8. The oil heated in a frying pan and the chopped onion, green pepper and tomatoes cooked 8 minutes until soft. Added to the broth.
9. The WHOLE habanero added and the broth simmered 10 MINUTES, then the habanero LIFTED OUT.
10. The shredded chicken returned and warmed through.
11. THE POT TAKEN OFF THE HEAT.
12. The 4 limes PARED in wide strips with a peeler, taking as little white pith as possible, and the strips dropped in.
13. STEEPED EXACTLY 10 MINUTES, then every strip LIFTED OUT. Not longer.
14. The juice of the other 4 limes stirred in, off the heat. Tasted and salted.
15. The tortillas cut in FINE strips and fried 20 seconds in hot oil. Drained and put on the table in a separate bowl.
16. The soup ladled into bowls with a slice of lime, and the strips scattered on by each person as they eat.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes