Sopa de Lima (Yucatecan Lime and Chicken Soup)

About This Recipe

Sopa de lima is the great soup of the Yucatán Peninsula — clean, golden, profoundly aromatic, and built around the distinctive flavor of lima agria, a bitter lime native to the region that tastes nothing like the Persian or key limes most cooks know. A whole free-range chicken is poached gently with onion, garlic, and the long flat-leaf Yucatecan oregano, then the meat is shredded and returned to the strained, clear broth. Just before serving, slices of lima agria are added — never squeezed or boiled, just floated — releasing their floral, slightly bitter perfume into each bowl. The soup is finished with diced ripe tomato, slivered raw red onion macerated in lime, fresh cilantro, and a generous pile of tortillas cut into ribbons and fried in lard until shatter-crisp. Each spoonful contains broth, shredded chicken, the crunch of the tortilla strips, the freshness of cilantro and onion, and the unmistakable aromatic bite of lima. It is the soup served at Yucatecan family Sundays, in market stalls in Mérida, and beside cochinita pibil at weddings. In Mexico City and abroad, regular limes substitute (and the dish remains delicious), but a true sopa de lima in Yucatán has a depth and bitterness that no other citrus reproduces.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1 (1.5–1.8 kg)whole chicken, jointed (or 6 bone-in skin-on thighs)
• 2 Lcold water
• 1 largewhite onion, halved (one half for stock, one half for soup)
• 6 clovesgarlic, smashed
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tbspYucatecan or Mexican oregano (preferably leaf, not ground)
• 1 tspground allspice (pimienta gorda)
• 1 tbspkosher salt
• 2 mediumripe tomatoes, diced 5 mm
• 1green or yellow bell pepper, diced 5 mm
• 3–4lima agria (bitter limes, sliced thin); substitute 4 regular limes if unavailable
• 6 smallcorn tortillas, cut into 5 mm ribbons
• 120 mllard or neutral oil, for frying tortilla strips
• 1 small bunchfresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 smallred onion, slivered and soaked in lime juice 10 minutes
• 1habanero, finely chopped (optional, served on the side)

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the broth

   Place chicken pieces in a large pot with cold water, one onion half, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, allspice and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and skim the foam that rises. Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered for 40 minutes until the chicken is just cooked through. Never boil hard — a clear broth requires gentle heat.

2. 2

   Strain and shred

   Lift out the chicken pieces and let cool until handleable. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot — discard the solids. Pull the chicken meat from the bones in large shreds, discarding skin and bones. Return shredded meat to a bowl, cover, and set aside.

3. 3

   Fry the tortilla strips

   While the chicken cools, heat the lard in a small skillet over medium-high heat to 180°C / 360°F. Fry the tortilla ribbons in 2 batches until shatter-crisp and golden, about 60 seconds per batch. Drain on paper towels and lightly salt while hot. These will go soggy if made too far ahead — fry within an hour of serving.

4. 4

   Sweat the soup vegetables

   Dice the remaining onion half. In the now-clean pot, heat 1 tbsp of the tortilla-frying lard over medium heat. Add diced onion and bell pepper and cook 5 minutes until softened. Add the diced tomato and cook 3 minutes more until the tomato breaks down slightly.

5. 5

   Combine and simmer

   Pour the strained broth back into the pot with the sweated vegetables. Bring to a gentle simmer. Taste — the broth should be aggressively seasoned but balanced. Adjust salt. Return the shredded chicken and warm through, 3 minutes. Do not boil.

6. 6

   Add the lime — gently

   Off the heat, float the thin slices of lima agria (or regular lime) on the surface of the soup. Let infuse 2 minutes — the heat releases their oils. Do NOT squeeze or boil — boiled lime turns bitter and the soup loses its perfume. Discard the slices before serving if they look ragged, or leave them as garnish.

7. 7

   Build each bowl

   Ladle hot soup into bowls. Top each with a generous pile of crisp tortilla strips, a scatter of slivered red onion (lifted from its lime soak), and chopped fresh cilantro. The tortilla strips should be added at the table so they crackle as they soften in the broth.

8. 8

   Serve with sides

   Pass extra lime wedges, chopped habanero, and a saucer of cilantro at the table. Each diner adjusts heat and acid to taste. Sopa de lima is meant to be assembled bite by bite in each bowl — the textures shift as you eat from crunchy to softened, from cool to warm.

Variations

• •

  Sopa de lima de pavo: traditional version made with leftover turkey carcass — perfect for the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas.

• •

  Vegetarian: replace chicken with hearts of palm and double the broth with vegetable stock; add lima later to keep brightness.

• •

  Sopa de lima con huevo: poach an egg in each bowl for a richer breakfast version popular in Mérida.

• •

  Spicy: stir in 1 tsp chipotle paste with the vegetables for a smoky-spicy variation popular in Campeche.

Storage

Refrigerate broth, shredded chicken and tortilla strips separately for up to 3 days. Assemble fresh at serving time. Adding tortilla strips to leftover soup makes them soggy quickly. Don't freeze — lime aromatics fade in the freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions