In the 90s, I spent a week in Acapulco at a quaint casa de invitados. Around the corner was a small family-owned café and on my first day I stopped in and had a cup of their Chicken Tortilla Soup. I thought it was the best soup I had ever eaten and stopped in every day for a cup. I became friendly with the family that owned the café by the end of my visit and they shared with me ‘some’ of the secrets that made it so good. Back in the states I went about trying to duplicate the soup and have tweaked the recipe over they years. I now have what I think is remarkably like their recipe. Here is how I make it.
Heat 3 – 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot. Add 2 diced onions, sprinkle with salt and cook for 2 minutes. Then add 2 stalks of diced celery and cook until the onions become translucent. Add 3 jalapenos that have been seeded and diced and cook until the onions start to brown. Add 1 ½ teaspoons of cumin, 1 ½ teaspoons of ground coriander, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Pour in a big splash of tequila and deglaze the pan scraping up all the brown bits on the bottom of pan.
Add 2 quarts of chicken stock, one 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes and about 1 ½ cups of corn tortillas that have been sliced into ½ inch strips. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Finally, add 3 cups of cooked chicken (white and dark meat), ¼ cup of chopped cilantro (optional) and 2 cups of frozen corn. Cook for about 5 minutes until everything is warm.
To serve, ladle the soup into a bowl and spritz with a lime wedge. Then add a dollop of sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, diced avocados, and crumbled up tortilla chips. Unfortunately, Acapulco is currently not as safe to visit as it once was, but I can still enjoy the memories from the small café with this soup. Enjoy!