Diana Cda
10-26-2009, 05:26 PM
In this spanish-language blog, there's a picture (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KQ8BfsW3LLM/StyHNjhuY-I/AAAAAAAAAv0/CU1gxcXaBQw/s1600-h/IMG_0771.JPG) of a Sopa verde (Green Soup) that when I saw it, triggered a light-bulb moment that rarely ever happens to me when it comes to food.
It just somehow popped into my head that it might come close to Sopa Azteca, a type of soup you can get in Mexican restaurants (in Mexico, of course). In my own Canada, Mexican restaurants are no such thing as they serve Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex food, something that happens to all Americanized-ethnic foods, I imagine - they're not authentic <g>.
All she says is that the soup had cucumber juice and avocados. I added some other items to make the "recipe" below.
I haven't had Soza Azteca in over 20 years but it has tortilla, avocados and a type of mild, flavourful chilli that for those of us who hate hot food, is actually quite wonderful. Some dried chillis are just flavour enhancers and don't add any heat.
I simulated the soup from my memory to this raw version:
2 cucumbers, juiced
About 1/4 C sundried tomatoes, ground up
Dulse flakes and kelp powder in lieu of salt (I never use any salt, but substitute with a sea salt of your choice, if desired)
1 nori sheet, torn up
1-2 avocados, peeled and cubed
(tomato and/or carrot juice??)I juiced the cucumbers then added the rest of the ingredients. Man, it was delicious! I've never been a fan of raw soups since I just haven't found one I can say that I like ... until now! <g> I found this very good and I'll certainly make it again.
What I'd change:
- add the juice of 1-2 tomatoes, or if I don't have tomatoes (as was the case today) at the very least, some carrot juice.
- I'd also soak some dried Mexican chilli in the soup base for a while. I must find some in town and buy.
I went looking for a definition of Mexican chillis and found this page here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Different_types_of_dried_Mexican_chili_Which_dried _Mexican_chili_do_you_need
Judging from that page, what I believe is used in the soup is called "Ancho", though perhaps "Chipotle" might do. I am by no means an expert in these things, I just remember trying to learn about cooking with them in my early 20s. Since I lived in Mexico at the time as my parents retired there, I spent a very frustrating month or so trying to figure out how to make a good spaghetti sauce (mine never turned out at all unless I had a recipe and followed it right down to the letter!!). In desperation, I at one point turned to sweet, dried chillis as a possible answer. I have to confess that I've always been something of a disaster in the kitchen!! I never did ever make a really good spaghetti sauce, but I kept a fondness for the flavours of these chillis even if I've only used them once or twice after that month back then. :)
It just somehow popped into my head that it might come close to Sopa Azteca, a type of soup you can get in Mexican restaurants (in Mexico, of course). In my own Canada, Mexican restaurants are no such thing as they serve Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex food, something that happens to all Americanized-ethnic foods, I imagine - they're not authentic <g>.
All she says is that the soup had cucumber juice and avocados. I added some other items to make the "recipe" below.
I haven't had Soza Azteca in over 20 years but it has tortilla, avocados and a type of mild, flavourful chilli that for those of us who hate hot food, is actually quite wonderful. Some dried chillis are just flavour enhancers and don't add any heat.
I simulated the soup from my memory to this raw version:
2 cucumbers, juiced
About 1/4 C sundried tomatoes, ground up
Dulse flakes and kelp powder in lieu of salt (I never use any salt, but substitute with a sea salt of your choice, if desired)
1 nori sheet, torn up
1-2 avocados, peeled and cubed
(tomato and/or carrot juice??)I juiced the cucumbers then added the rest of the ingredients. Man, it was delicious! I've never been a fan of raw soups since I just haven't found one I can say that I like ... until now! <g> I found this very good and I'll certainly make it again.
What I'd change:
- add the juice of 1-2 tomatoes, or if I don't have tomatoes (as was the case today) at the very least, some carrot juice.
- I'd also soak some dried Mexican chilli in the soup base for a while. I must find some in town and buy.
I went looking for a definition of Mexican chillis and found this page here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Different_types_of_dried_Mexican_chili_Which_dried _Mexican_chili_do_you_need
Judging from that page, what I believe is used in the soup is called "Ancho", though perhaps "Chipotle" might do. I am by no means an expert in these things, I just remember trying to learn about cooking with them in my early 20s. Since I lived in Mexico at the time as my parents retired there, I spent a very frustrating month or so trying to figure out how to make a good spaghetti sauce (mine never turned out at all unless I had a recipe and followed it right down to the letter!!). In desperation, I at one point turned to sweet, dried chillis as a possible answer. I have to confess that I've always been something of a disaster in the kitchen!! I never did ever make a really good spaghetti sauce, but I kept a fondness for the flavours of these chillis even if I've only used them once or twice after that month back then. :)