Sopa de Fideo Oaxaqueña con Chile Pasilla

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for roasting
• •Heavy 4-quart pot or Dutch oven
• •High-powered blender
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Roast tomatoes, onion, and garlic

   Heat a dry comal or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Place the whole Roma tomatoes, the quarter onion, and the unpeeled garlic cloves directly on the hot surface. Let them char. The tomatoes need about 8 to 10 minutes total, turning them with tongs as each side blisters and blackens. The onion takes about the same. The garlic is smaller and will be done in 5 to 6 minutes, soft inside and spotted dark on the papery skin. Pull each one off as it finishes. The charring is not decoration. It is the base flavor of the broth. A raw tomato makes a flat soup. A charred one gives you depth you cannot get any other way.

   Do not use a nonstick pan for this. You need direct contact between the tomato skin and dry hot metal. The nonstick coating will not char anything, it will just steam. A comal or cast iron is what the senoras in Oaxaca use. So should you.
2. 2

   Toast the chile pasilla oaxaqueño

   While the tomatoes roast, press each stemmed and seeded chile pasilla oaxaqueño flat onto the hot comal with a spatula. Give it 10 to 15 seconds per side. The chile will puff, and the kitchen will fill with a smell like a wood fire and dried fruit. That is the smoke from the Mixe drying process releasing. Remove it the moment it puffs. Place the toasted chiles in a small bowl and cover with hot tap water. Not boiling. Let them soak for 10 minutes while you move on to the fideo.

   Chile pasilla oaxaqueño is not the same as chile pasilla (also called chile negro). The Oaxacan version is smoke-dried over wood, giving it a campfire quality closer to chipotle but fruitier and more complex. If your chile vendor does not know the difference, find a different vendor. Online Oaxacan suppliers ship them dried. Accept no substitution for this dish.
3. 3

   Toast the fideo in lard

   In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, melt the manteca de cerdo over medium heat. When the lard is shimmering, add the fideo coils in a single layer, breaking any that are too large to fit flat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon. The fideo will sizzle and begin to color. Keep going. You want it the shade of a pecan shell, a deep golden brown with some pieces edging toward mahogany. This takes 3 to 4 minutes. The smell should be toasty and nutty, not burnt. Transfer the toasted fideo to a plate and set aside. Leave the lard in the pot.

   Most cooks pull the fideo too early. Pale fideo makes pale soup. The dark toast is what gives the broth its color and the noodles their backbone. They will hold their shape in the broth instead of dissolving into mush. No me vengas con atajos.
4. 4

   Blend the sauce

   Peel the roasted garlic. Place the charred tomatoes, roasted onion, peeled garlic, and the drained soaked chiles in a blender. Add half a cup of the warm chicken broth to help the blade move. Blend until smooth. Do not strain. The body of the sauce comes from the tomato pulp and the chile skin. Straining it would throw away flavor you spent ten minutes building on the comal.

5. 5

   Fry the sauce

   Return the pot with the remaining lard to medium-high heat. When the fat is hot, pour in the blended sauce all at once. It will sputter and hiss. Stand your ground. Stir and let it fry for 4 to 5 minutes. The sauce will darken by a shade and thicken slightly. The raw edge will cook off and the tomato and chile will meld into something deeper. You will see the fat beginning to separate around the edges. That is your signal that the sauce is ready for broth.

   Frying the sauce in lard is the step that separates a proper Oaxacan sopa from tomato water with noodles. The lard carries the smoke of the chile pasilla into every corner of the pot. La manteca es el sabor.
6. 6

   Build the soup

   Pour the remaining warm chicken broth into the pot. Stir well to combine with the fried sauce. Add the salt and the sprig of epazote. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the toasted fideo. Stir once to separate the noodles and submerge them. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the soup cook at a gentle simmer, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes. The fideo is done when it is tender but still has a slight bite at the center. It will continue to absorb broth as it sits, so pull it off the heat a minute before you think it is done.

   Fideo absorbs broth fast. If you let it sit on the stove too long, you will have a dry pasta dish, not a soup. Serve it promptly. If the soup thickens as it waits, add a splash of warm broth to loosen it back up.
7. 7

   Serve with quesillo and avocado

   Remove the epazote sprig. Ladle the sopa de fideo into deep bowls. Place a tangle of quesillo threads on top of each serving so they begin to soften in the hot broth. Lay slices of avocado alongside. Set lime wedges and crumbled dried oregano on the table. The quesillo melts into long, stretchy strands when it hits the broth. The avocado cools each spoonful. The lime sharpens the smoke. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and this bowl belongs to Oaxaca. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Chile pasilla oaxaqueño is the soul of this dish. It is smoke-dried over wood in the Sierra Mixe and Sierra Norte regions of Oaxaca and has a fruity, campfire character that no other chile replicates. You can order it online from Oaxacan specialty suppliers. If you use regular pasilla negro, you will have a decent sopa de fideo but you will not have an Oaxacan one. Know the difference.
• •Quesillo is Oaxacan string cheese. It melts into long, elastic strands, not into a puddle like mozzarella. If you cannot find quesillo, a young, mild Chihuahua cheese pulled into strips is the closest compromise. Do not use Monterey Jack. Do not use cheddar. This is not that kind of dish.
• •Use homemade chicken broth if you have it. Poach a whole chicken with onion, garlic, and salt for two hours and you have broth for this soup and shredded chicken for tomorrow's tacos. Store-bought broth is a compromise. A good low-sodium brand will work, but the body will be thinner. Add a splash more and adjust the salt.
• •Two chiles gives a gentle smoke. If you want the broth darker and more assertive, use three. Dona Carmen in Etla used three and her soup was the color of mahogany. She never apologized for it.

Advance Preparation

• •The blended sauce of roasted tomato, chile pasilla oaxaqueño, onion, and garlic can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated. Fry it in the lard when you are ready to cook.
• •Sopa de fideo does not hold well. The noodles absorb broth as they sit. Make it and serve it. If you have leftovers, add a splash of warm broth when reheating to bring it back to a soupy consistency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)