Mmm Yucateca

If you are coming here from my personal blog, you already know that today was quite a swell day, but enough personal crap, let's get to the food!

I took a day off from my day job to learn some Yucatecan cuisine, as well as eat some of this deliciousness. We made Sopa de Lima, Enchiladas con Mole, and X'nipek.

Sopa de Lima, translating to "Lime soup", is really more lemony. In the Yucatan they do their lemons and limes "al revés", and lemons are "limas" and limes are "limones". I didn't get to sample any of this because they made it with chicken broth, but one could just as easily make it veg.

Vegan Sopa de Lima
veggie boullion (enough to make about 6 cups)
a white onion
2 green bell peppers
3 or 4 plum tomatoes
corn tortillas
3 lemons, 2 limes
well done baked tofu

First, before you even get started on the broth, you want to cut the corn tortillas in strips and fry them in a skillet until they are golden and crunchy, then let them dry on some paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Having done that, whether you make your own baked tofu, or bought some, the tofu must be extra well done. This is so that in the soup it will not be spongy and soak up all the broth. Just pop in in the toaster oven or fry it up til it is a little burned, but still edible. While doing this, boil about 6 cups of water and chop up the onion, peppers, and tomatoes. Throw the veggies in the water and let simmer for about 20 minutes or so. Pour the veggies and water into another pot, but strain out the veggies using a colander or strainer. Then add your boullion. Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons and 2 limes into the broth as well, reserving one lemon to slice for garnish. Simmer for a bit longer until all of the boullion is disolved, taste, and salt and pepper til it suits you.

Chop the baked tofu roughly (strips would be best) and put some in each of the bowls to be served, along with some of the tortilla strips and lemon slices. Then pour a ladlefull of brother over everything and add some fresh cilantro on top if you like.

X'Nipek
X'Nipek literally translated from Mayan means "dog's nose", perhaps from the super spicy after effect of eating this! It is also called "Pico de Gallo" in other parts of Mexico, but in the Yucatan, we keeps it real yo.

a little less than 1/2 lb of white onion
2 lbs of tomato (roma or plum tomatos work best)
one bunch of fresh cilantro
Habanero* to taste
1/4 naranja agria juice, OR
1 T grapefruit juice
1 T orange juice
2 T lime juice
salt to taste

Dice/Mince everything up super fine, in pieces no bigger than 1/4". Mix together the veggies, and then add the juice and salt.

*NOTE, when handling habaneros, PLEASE be cautious. These fiery little bastards have been the cause of many an embarassing story, or mainly painful. If using a habanero pepper (you can also substitute with habanero sauce if you're timid about handling it), either wear gloves when dicing or use a fork to hold it in place. Wash your hands THOROUGHLY with lots of soap and hot water when finished handling. These peppers don't play! As one of the top hottest peppers, if even a smidgen of the juice were to get onto a mucous membrane of your body (like if you were to touch your eyes or go to the bathroom eek!) it could mean fiery hottness. So, just please be careful.


Consider making these tasty treats for your Cinco de Mayo fiesta! Or maybe even today, mmm...

Happy Cookin'! ¡Que tenés un buen tiempo en tu concina también!