Mexican Tomato Soup
Photo: Elizabethcasasola, CC BY-SA 4.0
This Mexican tomato soup comes together in about ten minutes and feeds six. The trick is in the seasoning: tomato sauce needs far more salt and sugar than most cooks expect, and a heaping teaspoon of sugar is what turns it from sharp to rounded. Salting the vegetables early makes them stew in their own juices, so the pot needs little attention. Scoop it up with tortilla chips.
Instructions
Chop the onions finely and fry them gently in a large saucepan with a little of the oil until they soften.
Add the remaining vegetables in an order that makes sense. The peppers can go in early, while the tomatoes need very little time.
Stir in about ½ teaspoon of salt and adjust to taste. The salt draws water out of the vegetables so they stew in their own liquid. If they cook slowly, cover the pot to hold in the moisture.
Pour in the tomato sauce and the sweet corn and stir until everything is combined and heated through.
Season with more salt and sugar to taste. Tomato sauce takes a lot of both, and at least a heaping teaspoon of sugar is needed for the flavor to come right. If you are unsure, ladle out a small portion and add extra salt to it, and you will notice how much the taste changes.
Serve the soup with tortilla chips, or with toasted bread if you have no chips.
Make it personal.
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