Mexican Caldo de Pollo with Lots of Flavor & No Bones
- September 2020
- By Ana González Quaid
- Recipe from Mexico
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- (3)
This Mexican caldo de pollo or chicken soup is a special version Ana González Quaid’s mom Gollita makes for her two kids because they don’t like chicken bones. ”It’s really hard to get good flavor if you cook with just boneless chicken breasts, which is all my boys will eat,” says Ana.
And so Gollita set out to figure out a way to make a really flavorful soup. ”As with most of her dishes, she first sautés tomatoes, onions and garlic into a savory recaudo cooking base. It makes this caldo so good and flavorful. Ana learned to make recaudo when she left home for the first time and missed Gollita’s cooking.”
Recaudo is a key element in so many dishes her mom makes, says Ana. But because it sits at the foundation of the dishes, Ana didn’t realize how important it was until she left home. “I knew what it was and how it was made, but I never had to cook it myself until I went away to college. My mom learned it from her mom, when she was a young girl in a family of seven kids in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. She was one of the oldest and helped make meals and take care of the other kids.”
Ready to Make Mexican Caldo de Pollo or Chicken Soup?
My Mom Gollita’s Mexican Sopa de Pollo
8
servings10
minutes1
hour10
minutesIngredients
- Recaudo
7 to 8 Roma tomatoes
1/4 yellow onion, medium size
3 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- Recaudo Sauté
2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz recaudo
1 tsp cumin
2 to 3 cubes chicken bouillon, 1-oz each
- The Caldo or Soup
12 cups water
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, each cut in half
1/2 yellow onion, medium, chopped in half
6 garlic cloves, cut into half
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp black peppercorns
1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped in 1-inch slices
1 cup celery, chopped, 1-inch slices
1 cup potato, chopped, 1-inch slices
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 bunch mint
Directions
- Make the Recaudo Cooking Base
- To make the recaudo, place tomatoes in a large pot or caldero of boiling water. Gently boil for 4 to 5 minutes, until the skin of each tomato starts to blister and is almost ready to burst. Set the tomatoes aside to cool. Peel. Cut each tomato in half.
- In a mixer, blend peeled tomatoes, garlic and onions for 3 to 5 minutes, until creamy and thoroughly dissolved. Set recaudo aside.
- For recaudo sauté, add olive oil to a pan. Add 8 oz of the recaudo, cumin and chicken bouillons. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Make the Caldo
- Fill a caldero or large soup pot with water. Add chicken, onions, garlic, salt and peppercorns. Turn the heat on high, bring to boil.
- Let boil, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
- With a large spoon, skim the foamy-white chicken fat off the top and discard. This will help you get a clear, rich broth.
- Add celery and boil for 5 minutes.
- Add carrots and potatoes and boil for 5 minutes. .
- Add the recaudo sauté mixture, cilantro, and mint. Gently boil for a final 5 minutes. Taste. Add salt and pepper if needed, and it’s ready to serve.
Notes
- For this recipe, you will need 8 oz of the recaudo. Ana recommends freezing the rest in small batches of 6 to 8 oz each in plastic zip bags, for later use.
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