Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup

Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup

A fresh hearty filling soup packed full of flavour and the added punch from the Kankun Habanero sauce gives it that extra zing. This soup is a combination of two recipe's that I thought worked well together both bringing additional flavours and textures to the dish.

• 2lbs skinless chicken breast chopped into chunks
• 2 Large dried pasilla ancho chiles
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Diced red, yellow & green pepper
• 2 Medium red onions diced
• 2 Cups roughly chopped kale leaves (stems removed)
• 2 Garlic cloves minced
• 1 Tsp cumin
• 1 Tsp oregano
• 15oz can black beans, drained
• 2 x 15oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
• 8 Cups chicken stock
• 6 Corn tortillas cut into strips
• 1 Avocado  
• Small packet of coriander
• Pack of feta cheese
• Vegetable oil for frying the tortilla strips
• Lime wedges
• Kankun Habanero sauce

Method:

Place the dried chillies into a bowl of boiling water for around 10 minutes.  Once rehydrated, remove the stalk and seeds and chop into small pieces.  Place the chilli into a blender along with the tomatoes.  Heat some oil in a large soup pan over a medium-low heat.  Add half of the chopped onions along with the garlic, peppers and spices to the pan, stirring frequently, cook until soft, roughly 5-6 minutes then remove from the heat.  Using a slotted spoon transfer the cooked mixture into the blender and puree all the ingredients together until very smooth.

Return the soup pot to a high heat.  Once hot, add the pureed tomato chili mixture, it should sizzle immediately.  Continue cooking over a high heat for approximately 5-6 minutes until the mixture thickens.  Add the chicken stock to the pot and mix thoroughly.  Season with salt and pepper (remember the stock will have salt in it) add the black beans and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Whilst the soup is simmering, heat a large frying pan with 2-3 inches of oil in the base, once hot, add the tortilla strips and cook until browned (leave some strip to cook longer so they crisp up), once done, remove and drain the strip on some paper towel.  Returning to the soup, add the kale, chicken and tortilla strips (reserving the crisp ones) to the pan, stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked, this should take 2-3 minutes.    

Ladle your soup into deep bowls and garnish with the crumbled feta cheese, the remaining diced red onion, coriander and lime wedges and a dash of the Kankun Habanero sauce, placing the crispy tortilla strips on top.

Recipe is a mix of two recipes from Kankun Sauce and Blogging over Thyme