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Soup garnished with fresh cilantro and cotija cheese

Poblano Soup

A creamy and vitamin-packed chile pepper soup.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

Main Ingredients
  • 7 - 10 Poblano pepper
  • 1 Tbsp Butter (14g)
  • 1 large Onion diced
  • 4 cloves Garlic
  • 1 handful Cilantro chopped
  • 1 tsp Cumin ground
  • 48 oz Chicken stock (1.4L) (add more if you want to make more soup)
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • Salt, to taste (use less if adding cheese)
Creamy Ingredients
  • 1 cup Heavy cream (237mL)
  • — or —
  • 12 - 16 oz Mexican cheese (such as Chihuahua, Asadero, Queso Quesadilla, or even Monterey Jack) (340g - 454g) freshly shredded
  • 1/2 slice American cheese for the sodium citrate (melting salt)
Thickening Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp Flour (8g) for roux
  • — or —
  • 1 tsp Cornstarch (4g) whisked with water to create slurry

Equipment

  • 1 Soup pot
  • 1 Immersion blender and/or regular blender
  • 1 Baking tray or baking dish
  • 1 Sieve or food mill A food mill is really nice to have for making smooth soups and sauces
  • 1 Cheese grater

Method
 

Roasting Peppers
  1. Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C).
  2. Roast peppers for 15 – 20 minutes, flip, and roast for another 10 minutes.
  3. Sweat peppers in a Ziploc bag for 20 minutes, then remove skins, seeds, and seeds (a large bowl of cold water helps speed this up).
Making Base Soup
  1. Place pot on medium heat, and add diced onions, garlic, chopped cilantro, and ground cumin. Sauté for 5 – 6 minutes until onions are softened.
    If you want to thicken the soup with roux, add 1Tbsp flour now and stir until incorporated.
  2. Add chicken stock and 2 bay leaves, bring soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 20 minutes.
  3. Use immersion blender and/or regular blender and blend soup until smooth.
  4. For added smoothness, pass soup through a sieve or a food mill.  Return soup to pot.
Choosing Cream
  1. If you choose to add cream, add 1 cup cream and stir until incorporated.  Salt to taste.
Choosing Cheese
  1. If you choose to add cheese, add ½ slice of American cheese to soup and stir.
  2. Grate cheese and add a little at a time while stirring until it’s all incorporated.  You probably won’t need to add any salt in this case.
Thickening Soup
  1. If you want a thicker soup at this point, add cornstarch slurry or some roux.
Serving
  1. Serve garnished with fresh cilantro and crumbled cotija cheese.