Chicken Tortilla Soup

Preparing the Chicken Breast

1. Place your chicken breast in a pot with 4 cups cold water the white onion and 2 cloves of garlic.
2. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes until the chicken is just cooked through.
3. Remove the chicken from the cooking liquid and allow to cool.
4. Shred the chicken into thin strips about 1 to 1 ½ inches long.
5. Reserve the cooking liquid.

Preparing the Tomato Broth

1. First, remove the stem and the seeds from the morita chile.
2. Blend the Roma tomatoes, clove of garlic, morita chile, and 3 cups chicken broth. Blend in 2 batches.
3. After you have blended the ingredients, heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to medium-hot in a pot. Pour the soup base into the hot oil. Reduce the heat to low.
4. Simmer the broth for 30 minutes until it takes on a deep red color and has reduced approximately 1 inch.
5. Add the salt and adjust as needed. The broth should seem slightly salty. When you add all of the other soup ingredients it will reduce the saltiness a bit.

Making the Tortilla Strips

1. Cut the tortillas into ¼” to ½” strips.
2. Preheat 4 tablespoons of cooking oil to medium-hot in a wide frying pan.
3. Place the tortilla strips in the hot oil. Let them fry for a few seconds and then turn to coat the remaining tortilla strips in oil.
4. Keep turning the tortilla strips until they are golden brown. Keep a close eye on them so that they don't burn.
5. Remove from the pan and drain the tortilla strips on napkins or paper towels to remove any excess cooking oil.

Serving the Soup

1. Pour approximately 1 cup of the tomato broth into a wide shallow bowl.
2. Add shredded chicken.
3. Top with a generous dollop of sour cream or crema.
4. Add a few chunks of avocado to the bowl.
5. Top with a tortilla strips and serve immediately.