Sopa de Tortilla

Sopa de Tortilla: Step by Step

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1. Heat the oil to 180°C / 355°F and fry the tortilla strips in batches for 90 seconds, until crisp. Drain and salt lightly.

   Mark done Start 90 sec timer

2. Toast the pasilla and guajillo chillies in a dry pan for 40 seconds a side, then soak in hot water 20 minutes.

   Mark done Start 40 sec timer

3. Char the tomatoes, onion and unpeeled garlic in a dry pan for 8 minutes, until blackened in patches.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

4. Squeeze the garlic from its skins.

   Mark done

5. Blend the charred vegetables with two of the soaked pasillas and a ladleful of stock.

   Mark done

6. Strain the purée into a pan through a sieve, pressing it through.

   Mark done

7. Simmer 12 minutes, until it darkens and thickens.

   Mark done

8. Add the remaining stock, oregano and salt and simmer 12 minutes more.

   Mark done

9. Slice the remaining soaked chillies into thin rings.

   Mark done

10. Ladle the hot broth into bowls and let people add tortilla strips, avocado, cheese, crema, chilli rings, coriander and lime themselves.

    Mark done

Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Ingredient substitutions.

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What Can Go Wrong

1. Strips at the table, never in the pot.
2. Toast and soak whole dried chillies.
3. Strain the purée or the broth is gritty.

Swaps and Variations

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• Lemon is the everyday swap for limes in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

The Short Version

The tortilla strips go into the bowl at the table, never into the pot. Cooked in the broth they dissolve into thickener within a couple of minutes and the whole point of the dish — crisp against hot liquid — disappears. Toast and soak the dried chillies rather than using powder; the smoky depth of pasilla is the flavour people remember.

To Go With It

A cold beer · Extra lime · Warm tortillas

Keeping Sopa de Tortilla

The broth keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes 3 months. Fry strips fresh.

Questions People Ask

What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.

Vegetarian when made with vegetable stock rather than chicken stock.

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