Welcome to the Yucatan! With a Hot Bowl of Lime Soup on the Side

This past summer Darin and I took a much needed vacation to the Yucatan, specifically to Cancun. For those of you who live under a rock, Cancun is in Mexico. It was partially to celebrate our Four Year Anniversary (has it really been that long!?) and also to get some R&R before Darin started his chiropractic school journey. We scored an AMAZING deal on a hotel (thank you Deal Chicken!) and off we went for 8 days and 7 nights of Caribbean bliss. We invited our friends, Kurt and Shea, to come with us and it was an absolute blast!

We had tons of amazing food on our trip and among one of my favorites was this delicious, hot, refreshing, limey soup. They call it Sopa de Lima, aka Lime Soup. It is a rather creative name... (sarcasm anyone?). However, it was one of my favorite dishes I had while in Cancun. It was one of the dishes I set out to recreate almost as soon as we got home. Sopa de Lima originates from the Yucatan portion of Mexico and one website calls it "the Yucatan's verison of your grandmother's chicken soup." As for me, I call it the Mexican version of chicken noodle soup. It's great when you're feeling sick. As a scoured recipes, I found a lot of different versions that were not what I has experienced. Some had tomatoes, some had red or green peppers, others had cilantro. So instead, I just made my own and I must say, I actually like it better than what we had in Mexico. Here is the moment of truth, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present: Lime Soup.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion VERY thinly sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 jalapenos, seeded and minced (I used canned jalapenos this time)

2-3 teaspoons of dried oregano (Mexican oregano would be preferred)

Salt & Pepper

2 chicken breasts cut into chunks

12-14 cups of chicken broth/water (I used about 4 cans of chicken broth, and used water for the rest since I'm stingy and didn't want to use a whole case of broth)

1/2 cup of lime juice

Avocados, limes and tortilla strips for toppings

Directions:

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions, garlic and jalapenos in a little oil with a little salt to bring out the moisture in the onions. Add in the chicken pieces and brown. Deglaze the pan with a little of the broth and add S&P to taste. Then add the rest of the broth. Let it simmer 30+ mins over medium-low heat (the longer the better). Take the chicken out and shred it. Return chicken to the pot. Add lime juice and cook for 5 mins more. Serve with fried corn tortilla strips, diced avocado and lime wedges to heighten the lime flavor. You could also top it with some queso fresco for a little creaminess. 

When I made this soup today, I made up an alternate method. I bought a rotisserie chicken from the deli and took all the meat off the bones then made my own broth by boiling the carcass in 14 cups of water. I strained all the bones and other chicken pieces out of the broth then followed the recipe as usual just using my homemade broth and the shredded meat I got off the rotisserie chicken. The soup was just as good, but took a little longer than the original version.

Sorry my picture isn't fancy. I decided last minute that I would write a post about the soup so I didn't have time to make some fancy presentation. If you like beautiful pictures of food, you should go see Hot Cookin Mama. Those pictures are yummy looking and will make your mouth water.

I hope you make this recipe soon and let me know what you think of it! Enjoy your own little trip to the Yucatan with this delicious soup that is refreshing and light enough to enjoy all year round!