Saturday, March 24, 2012

Sopa de Lima :D

One of my favourite things I had on my honeymoon with my love was "sopa de lima", a traditional Mexican soup that was often served as the appetizer to the main course. It's a very simple soup; with the most exotic feature being the afore-mentioned "limas" (or a type of sweet lime found in Mexico, and other parts of Latin and South America). I couldn't find any here, so the first time I tried to recreate this soup, I used the little mini limes in the supermarket (limas aren't big like our limes). Bad mistake!! Those cute, little limes are very bitter, especially once the soup has simmered for awhile. Regular limes, as ripe as possible (therefore sweeter) are your best choice (in my experience, that is!).
I also find that boiling my own, fresh, chicken stock makes for a) a tastier soup, and b) more authentic taste. I often make this soup after we’ve finished off a chicken; when there’s little meat left on the bones, but enough to make this soup ;P

So, take your chicken bones/carcass and boil in 4-6 cups of water for 30-45 minutes. This should create a lovely broth that easily is manipulated into “Sopa de Lima”!

SOPA DE LIMA (a la Robyn Cabrera) ;P

Chicken bones, with some meat (equivalent to bones from 1 small chicken)
6 cups water
Boil for 45 minutes

Remove bones carefully (I use a sieve and clean rubber gloves to help me with this)
Add 2-3 TBSP chicken bouillon if desired (I like Victorian Epicure brand).
1 tsp crushed, dried, red chili peppers (more if you like ;)
Salt to taste
½ tsp pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced and cut into 2 inch pieces.
2 cloves garlic, pressed or smashed
1 lime, cut into 8 pieces (do not peel!), squeeze them quick then pop them in.
½ cup unpacked cilantro, chopped coarsely (or finely, if you like it that way).

Let simmer for 10-15 minutes. This is the taste test time. I often find that I add “Cinco Pepper Blend” from Victorian Epicure and some Mexican habanera sauce before serving, but both Isaac and I love spicy food. Also, you may need more salt (dependant on what kind of bouillon you used). I use Redman’s red mineral salt, so I often use a tiny bit more then the recipe suggests as a) it’s good for you and b) it’s not as salty as sea or table salt.


Break corn tortilla chips into soup immediately before serving.

Delish!

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!!

No comments:

Post a Comment