Sopa de Lima (Yucatecan — Lime-Soured Chicken Soup)

Sopa de Lima is Yucatán's answer to chicken soup — a clear, bright, lime-soured broth built on a foundation of slow-simmered chicken, charred aromatics, and the distinctive flavour of Yucatecan lima (a local citrus variety that is sweeter and more floral than standard lime). The soup's defining characteristic is its limpid clarity paired with sharp citrus acidity, achieved through careful layering of a charred sofrito base into a clean chicken stock. The broth begins with a whole chicken simmered in water with onion, garlic, and bay leaves for 45 minutes to an hour until the meat is fully cooked and the stock is flavourful but not cloudy. The chicken is removed, the stock strained, and the meat shredded into clean pieces. This separation of cooking stages is what allows the final soup to be simultaneously rich and clear. The sofrito — tomatoes, onion, garlic, and sweet green pepper — is charred directly on a dry comal until blackened at the edges, then chopped and fried briefly in lard in the soup pot. This paso de charring is characteristic of Yucatecan cooking and adds a layer of smoky depth that distinguishes the soup from a simple chicken broth. The strained stock is added to the charred sofrito and simmered for 20 minutes. The lima juice is added at the very end, just before serving, in generous quantities — typically two to three limes per litre of soup. Adding citrus too early destroys its aromatic top notes. Fried tortilla strips are placed in the bowl, the hot soup ladled over, and sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, and habanero arranged on top. The result is a soup of remarkable brightness — simultaneously comforting and vivid, with citrus acidity cutting cleanly through the chicken fat.