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Fire-roasted Tortilla Soup

This is our home-grown re-creation of a soup we once had and loved at Jason’s Deli in Houston. I don’t think they make it any more the way we remember, or is it that we’ve come to love our version of it, laced with memories of visits to Jason’s Deli in Rice Village so much more? Whether you use chicken or vegetable stock, this is a lovely, warming soup with an incomparable depth of flavor thanks to the spices and masa harina. Worth all the effort it takes to make it.
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Ingredients
  

For the soup

  • 6-8 ripe roma or other comparable tomatoes
  • 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons mixed chilli powder – dry chipotle, guajillo, ancho, pasilla or other dried peppers, cut in strips, lightly toasted and powdered in a spice blender
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or paprika
  • ½ teaspoon fajita seasoning, if you have it
  • 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
  • 1 teaspoon roasted and crushed cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2-3 cups of chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon of masa harina, to thicken the soup

For the topping

  • 3-4 corn tortillas
  • A few spoons of oil, to fry
  • 1 large ripe avocado
  • Coriander leaves to garnish
  • Lime edges to serve

Instructions
 

  • Cut the tomatoes lengthwise and place them, cut sides down, on a large baking tray, on the top shelf of your oven. Broil for about 10-12 minutes at 180C/350C, or until the skins are looking charred and puffy. Retrieve from the oven, and allow to cool.
  • Now the skins should lift easily off, so remove them. Set the tomatoes aside.
  • For an even richer fire-roasted taste, you can skewer the tomatoes on knives or skewers and char them over an open flame. Peel off immediately.
  • Add 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil to a large frying pan. When the oil is very hot, add the diced onion—fry until translucent.
  • Follow with the garlic, fry till fragrant.
  • Add the chilli powders, fajita seasoning, oregano and roasted-crushed cumin. Mix for a scant moment; do not allow these to burn.
  • Now toss in all the tomatoes as they are, juices and all. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and no more, because you’re about to follow with stock that’s salted already. Mix well.
  • Transfer all this to the jar of a blender and (once cooled slightly), puree as smoothly or coarsely as you wish.
  • Return to the same frying pan and add the chicken stock.
  • Bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 15 minutes. The soup should be thickening, but if it’s not, you can add a spoonful of masa harina to help it along. The masa harina gives it a depth of flavor, too, so isn’t at all a bad addition if you have some handy.
  • If the soup is too thick, add a little extra stock.

Prepare the toppings

  • Cut the tortillas into thin strips and fry, batch-by-batch in small quantities of oil until these are crisping. Allow them to cool.
  • Peel, slice or cube the avocado. Set aside.
  • Chop coriander and cut lime wedges, to garnish and serve.
  • When you are ready to serve, dole the soup out into bowls, arrange the avocado, lime, and fresh coriander on top, and serve with a generous portion of crisped-fried tortilla strips.

Notes

You can make this a heartier stew rather than just a soup by adding other vegetables and also chicken strips, if you wish. 
  • For this, pre-marinate 1 large chicken breast with the same chilli pepper spices listed, oregano, cumin, and garlic and lime juice--for a few hours or overnight. Then cut into strips and pan-fry. Allow to cool and shred roughly. 
  • Also fry corn and sliced bell peppers -- either along with the onions and garlic, or separately, and then add them in after you've done the pureeing. 
  • At this stage, add in the roughly shredded chicken.