Sopa de Lima Yucateca

Name: Sopa de Lima Yucateca
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients: 1 head garlic, separated into cloves but not peeled; 1 medium white onion (8 ounces), not peeled; One 3½-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces; 4 quarts water; 2 Ceylon cinnamon sticks (canela); 1 tsp. allspice berries; 8 cloves; ¼ tsp. anise seeds; 1 tsp. ground cumin; 1 tsp. dried oregano; 2 broad-leaf culantro leaves or 4 cilantro sprigs; 1 habanero chile; 2 Tbsp. corn oil; 1 medium white onion (8 ounces), finely chopped; 2 medium plum tomatoes (about 6 ounces), finely chopped; 2 tsp. salt, or to taste; 2 limas or 1 bitter orange, seeded and cut into thin slices; 4 corn tortillas, for garnish; ¼ cup corn oil, for frying

By Maricel Presilla

January 25, 2023

A bowl of sopa de lima topped with tortilla strips.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Haubert

In Mérida, Mexico, where I first tasted this wonderful sopa de lima, the soup is made with a local citrus fruit. Smaller than an orange, with a yellowish lime-green color and a very smooth skin, lima (Citrus limetta) has a sweet, refreshing taste and a pronounced aroma. As a child, I loved to eat it in wedges because it was mild and sweet with very little acidity. The lima is added only very late in the cooking and removed when it has contributed its aroma. In this country, I use Seville (bitter) oranges because of their equally fragrant skin. Once in a while I have been able to find limas in my local markets, but now I am hooked on the flavor of the soup with the bitter orange.

Note: This soup is based on a delicate but very richly spiced chicken broth called salpimentado; you save some of the chicken used for cooking the broth and shred it to be used in the finished dish. I have come to love salpimentado so much that I often make up a double or triple batch and freeze some to use in other dishes where I want a really special broth.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Gran Cocina Latina' by Maricel Presilla. Buy the full book on Amazon. Click through for more Mexican soups →