Sopa Azteca super post

[kare_raisu]

I was inspired by a San Diego poster's flickr picture of a Tortilla Soup that he had at a friends home that looked incredible so I decided to make my own.

I had a whole stock pot of Chicken Stock from poaching a chicken for yesterdays Mole Amarillo - which I have posted in the past - so I put it to good use.

I knew Patricia Quintana, high priestess of Alta Cocina [Izote] could be trusted so I used her recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_10405,00.html

The process is pretty straight foward soup making:
-Make paste
-Cook down base to concentrate
-Add aromatics (epazote, whole fried chile negros
)-Gradually add boiling stock
-Cook to meld flavors

Some tweaking I did on my own was to roast the tomatoes and I used what they called Chile Pasilla (which is really an acho) and what they call chile negro (for 'long pasillas'), I added some braised and cumin dusted, lemony nopales , shredded chicken, and toasted pepitas.

All the accoutrement made me think of Korean panchan. Its the best part - to customize your own bowl.

Pictures can be found here:
http://flickr.com/photos/98128783@N00...

Taken with a tamal and the most Mexican vegetable I know of, Brussel sprouts.

[kare_raisu]

I like the fried chile negro the best for garnishing.

Other garnishes:
cotija
cilantro
lime
radish
chopped lettuce (use cabbage)

I wish I had chicharron!

[Eat_Nopal]

You just made me very hungry!

[Rubee]

Oh my, that looks delicious!

[oakjoan]

Kare Raisu: The panchan comment is perfect. The accompanying side dishes made the soup. When I made pozole a couple of days ago (as described in an earlier post), I put out shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, fried tortilla pieces, chopped onions, lime quarters, avocado.....that's half the fun.