Published March 1, 2005.
An 'authentic' tortilla soup requires a trip to a Latin market and an afternoon in the kitchen. We had just one hour and limited our grocery shopping to the local Price Chopper.
We faced two major problems when we decided to tackle authentic tortilla soup: It requires several hard-to-find, uniquely Mexican ingredients, and it demands a major investment of time to make the stock and fry the tortilla chips.
We wanted to make an intensely and authentically flavored tortilla soup in less than one hour, using easily found ingredients.
By breaking the soup down to its three classic components--the flavor base (tomatoes, garlic, onion, and chiles), the chicken stock, and the garnishes (including fried tortilla chips)--we found we could devise techniques and substitute ingredients that together make a compelling version of tortilla soup. We began achieving maximum flavor by composing a puree made from chipotle chiles, tomatoes, onions, garlic, jalapeños, and a cilantro/oregano substitute for the Mexican ingredient epazote, and then frying the puree in oil over high heat. We then added the puree to low-sodium canned chicken broth that we strained after poaching chicken in it and infusing it with onions, garlic, cilantro, and oregano. Addressing the garnish issue, we oven-toasted our lightly oiled tortilla strips instead of frying them and substituted sour cream and Monterey Jack cheese for the harder-to-find Mexican crema and queso fresco.
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