What Is Sopa Seca And What Does It Taste Like?

Have you ever heard of such a thing as dry soup? Sopa seca, a Mexican noodle dish, actually translates from Spanish as "dry soup," according to Today. The dish is prevalent in Mexican cuisine, says Today, and can likely be found not only on many a menu in Mexico, but also commonly included in the pages of cookbooks. What is sopa seca, exactly? How do you make a dry soup?

The dish is simple to make, with a main ingredient of thin noodles, sometimes substituted for tortilla strips or rice. Noodles are the most common, says Simply Recipes, which is why you may see the same dish referred to as sopa seca de fiedo, or "dry soup with noodles."

To make the dish, first, noodles are toasted until slightly brown, according to Simply Recipes. After they are nice and toasty, a mixture of tomatoes, onions and broth (commonly chicken) are added to the noodles. The pasta absorbs the liquid and becomes extremely flavorful, but leaves no broth leftover — hence the name of dry soup. For a soup, sopa seca is certainly dry, but the dish itself is moist. So what does it taste like?

Simply Recipes says that first vital step of toasting the noodles in a pan with oil releases a deeper, nutty flavor in the pasta. Think "toasted bread versus plain bread," explains Simply Recipes. As the rest of the dish's taste comes from the liquid, flavored by tomatoes, aromatic onions, and broth, Simply Recipes suggests making your own flavorful chicken broth for the noodles to absorb.

When it comes to serving the dish, Iliana de la Vega, chef and owner of El Naranjo restaurant in Austin, told Today that she likes to top her sopa seca with "a lot of avocado, cheese and Mexican crema," and a garnish of serrano chilis. Simply Recipes notes that, if made with chicken broth, sopa seca tastes especially delectable with a side of chicken, but an accompaniment of beef or fried fish is not uncommon.

With a simple recipe and tasty outcome, sopa seca is a great dish to create at home. Try it for yourself!