A Taste Of The Yucatan – Sopa De Lima

 

 

By Kerry Shelby

 

Here in Key West, we most often make reference to Cuba, the Bahamas and Haiti as our island neighbors that share our culinary heritage and enjoy many of the same local tropical ingredients.

While all that is true, we should not forget our other neighbor to the west, Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, which is just a little over 300 nautical miles across the Gulf of Mexico. Being closer to the Caribbean than Mexico City and being somewhat isolated by mountains and sea, the Yucatan’s cuisine is quite different from the rest of Mexico. It focuses heavily on chicken, pork and fresh seafood and reflects influences of early European visitors and even ancient Mayan preparations.

One of these great traditional dishes is sopa de lima, the Yucatan lime and chicken soup. Like the Keys and our key limes, the Yucatan has its own little tart limes, the lima agria. For my sopa de lima, though, I find that milder Persian limes are the better choice, and roasted jalapeños are more subtle than the traditional habanero. Although I typically use fresh herbs most of the time, here good dried Mexican oregano makes for a more pronounced taste. This bright tropical soup will definitely cure what ails you, even if all that ails you is an appetite for lunch!

Sopa de Lima

Cut 4 corn tortillas into thin strips. Heat ½ cup canola oil in a cast iron skillet and, working in batches, fry the tortilla strips, tossing, until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the oil, add 2 split chicken breasts (about 1 pound each) and brown the chicken all over.

Trim the top ½ inch off a small head of garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Roast the garlic along with 1 whole jalapeno in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove the pepper and continue roasting garlic for another 20-25 minutes until soft. When both cool a bit, stem, seed and chop the pepper (leave a few seeds if you want a spicier soup) and squeeze the garlic into a small bowl. Meanwhile, cook 1 cup of chopped yellow onion in olive oil until soft and add to the garlic in the bowl.

In a large Dutch oven, heat 4 cups homemade chicken stock (see recipe at kwkitchen.com) to a steady simmer. Add chicken breasts, garlic onion mixture, jalapeno, 1 can white hominy, undrained, 2 tablespoons of dried Mexican oregano and the juice of 2 Persian limes to the stock. Cook until chicken is just cooked through. Remove chicken and, when cool enough to handle, shred the meat using 2 large serving forks. Return the shredded meat to the soup and simmer another 10 minutes.

Chop 2 plum tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of cilantro and 2 scallions. Mix together in a small bowl and drizzle with olive oil. To serve, ladle soup into 4 serving bowls and top with tortilla strips and the tomato cilantro mixture.

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