Finding The Soul Of The Soup

Rick Nichols tries Xochitl’s sopa Azteca and then tries to recreate it at home.

There’s a tangle of crispy, fried blue tortilla “noodles” in it. And big, lush chunks of avocado. And cubes of soft, Chihuahua cheese, and a zigzagging drizzle across the top of rich, Mexican crema, which is akin to sour cream, except it isn’t very sour.
But otherwise, the bowl is a dry gulch. The savory broth arrives by separate delivery, poured steaming and adobe-red from a small pitcher, the better to keep the tortilla strips from heading south, going limp and soggy, the Achilles’ heel of most tortilla soups.

A tortilla soup comes with a few surprises [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Xochitl [Official Site]