Sopa sin Tortillas!
I live at the tip of Baja California Sur, in Mexico. There are hundreds of restaurants, here. They pretty much all have some variation on the following dishes: Caesar Salad, Tortilla Soup and Fish Tacos. Tortilla Soup is one of my favorite things to eat, on this here Earth. Unfortunately, in a land of tortillas, alas ... I cannot eat them. Thus, this soup has been renamed "Soup without Tortillas", but ... in Spanish. Sopa sin Tortillas!
When I make it, I usually make a big batch of the base. I'll eat some, and freeze the rest. Even with the meat in it, it freezes quite well. I've got some in my freezer, right now!
I will slowly reheat the soup, pour it into a bowl and top with some cubes of a plain white cheese (Oaxacan, Fresh Mozzarella or Monterey Jack), and some sour cream. Usually in Baja, it's also served with fresh limes, cilantro, diced raw onions, pork rinds and avocado. If I had guests, I'd go through all that fuss, but I'm tired and lazy. It's easier just to add the cheese and cream.
☺
When I make it, I usually make a big batch of the base. I'll eat some, and freeze the rest. Even with the meat in it, it freezes quite well. I've got some in my freezer, right now!
I will slowly reheat the soup, pour it into a bowl and top with some cubes of a plain white cheese (Oaxacan, Fresh Mozzarella or Monterey Jack), and some sour cream. Usually in Baja, it's also served with fresh limes, cilantro, diced raw onions, pork rinds and avocado. If I had guests, I'd go through all that fuss, but I'm tired and lazy. It's easier just to add the cheese and cream.
☺
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time2 hrs
Total Time2 hrs 30 mins
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories: 334.38875kcal
Ingredients
Soup
- 8 cups chicken stock or broth
- 2 each pork tenderloins cut into halves and cleaned (or equivalent pork shoulder, cut into 4 large chunks)
- 1 tbsp lard bacon fat, coconut or olive oil
- 2 tsp cumin seed ground
- 1 tbsp coriander seed ground
- 2 each large ripe tomatoes coursely chopped
- 1/2 each 7-ounce can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 each garlic clove peeled
- 1/4 cup lime juice freshly squeezed
- 1 bunch cilantro washed and chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup monterey jack cheese cubed
Instructions
- Place the chicken stock into a medium-large soup pot. Place the pot on the stove, over medium heat.
- Pre-heat a large sauté pan, on the stove.
- Season the pork with a mixture of cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
- In a large sauté pan, add your olive oil and quickly spread it around the bottom of the pan.
- Add the pork to the sauté pan and sear the outside of the pork. When one side is nice and browned, turn it 90 degrees and sear a new side. When the pork has been nicely browned on all sides, add all the pork to the chicken stock.
- In a blender, puree the tomatoes, chipotles in adobo, onion, garlic, lime juice and cilantro.
- Add the tomato mixture to the chicken stock.
- Watch the soup mixture. When it begins to simmer, turn the heat down to a low simmer.
- Allow to simmer for roughly 2 hours, stirring and turning the pork, occasionally.
- When the pork is soft and tears easily with a fork remove the pork and cut into large bite sized chunks.
- Season the soup base, to taste. Add a little more salt and perhaps a touch more lime juice (I tend to like a lot in mine).
- Divide the soup base and pork into 8 bowls. Garnish with optional garnishes of: cheese, sour cream, avocado, fresh cilantro, crumbled pork rinds, fresh diced onions and/or fresh limes!
Nutrition
Serving: 8g | Calories: 334.38875kcal | Carbohydrates: 9.38375g | Protein: 38.09125g | Fat: 15.93875g | Fiber: 2.64g