Sopa de Lima, Yucatecan Lime Soup
Sopa de lima is the signature soup of the Yucatan, named for the local lima agria, a sour lime with a faint bitterness closer to a bergamot than the limes most stores carry. The traditional bowl is a chicken and lime broth poured over fried tortilla strips, but the backbone that makes it worth eating is the char: onion, tomato, and garlic blackened on a dry comal until they taste of smoke. Build that base with vegetables and a no-salt broth and you lose nothing that mattered. A whole habanero simmered and removed gives the broth its floral heat without lighting it on fire, and the lime goes in off the heat so it stays bright. Use the sourest limes you can find, and add a squeeze more at the table.
Ingredients
- 1 Yellow onion, halved
- 2 Fresh tomatoes, cored
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1 Habanero, left whole
- 1 Bell pepper, green, diced
- 1 tsp Dried oregano
- 3 wholes Allspice
- 5 cups no-salt vegetable bouillon, prepared, low or no sodium
- 3 tbsp Lime juice
- 1/3 cup Cilantro, chopped
Method
- Char the onion halves, tomatoes, and unpeeled garlic in a dry pan over high heat until blackened in spots, about 8 minutes. The blistered skins add a smoky depth that stands in for the browned chicken this soup usually starts with.
- Toast the oregano and allspice in the same dry pan for 30 seconds until they smell fragrant. Blooming dry spices in heat wakes up the oils that carry the aroma, so a pinch does the work of a spoonful.
- Peel the garlic, chop the charred onion and tomato, and add them to the pot with the diced pepper, spices, broth, and the whole habanero. Keeping the chile intact perfumes the broth with its fruit without dumping in all its heat.
- Simmer 15 minutes, then fish out the habanero before it bursts. Taste the broth. It should read savory from the char and the no-salt bouillon, which is why no salt goes in.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice at the very end. Lime is the whole name of the dish, and boiling it would turn the fresh sourness dull and bitter.
- Ladle over a few strips of raw radish or a spoon of avocado for body, and finish with cilantro. Serve hot with extra lime on the side.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 110 calories, 4 g protein, 5 g fiber, 70 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
