The tortillas in this soup are made of egg. Five of them, beaten, cooked as thin flat omelettes in a separate pan, cut into strips and dropped into the broth at the last minute.
The soup underneath is Colombian: chicken broth with potato, cassava, papa criolla, carrot and a sofrito of onion, garlic and bell pepper.
This is not Mexican tortilla soup
Worth clearing up immediately, because the name points the wrong way in English.
Mexican tortilla soup is a tomato and chilli broth with strips of fried corn tortilla in it, usually with avocado, cheese and lime on top. The tortilla is corn.
This one is Colombian, the broth is chicken with root vegetables, and the tortilla is an omelette. In Colombia, as in Spain, tortilla means eggs beaten and cooked flat in a pan. There is no corn anywhere in this recipe.
If you came looking for the Mexican one, this is not it, and no amount of adjusting will get you there.
Making the egg tortillas
They are made in a separate pan while the soup simmers, which is the only piece of timing this recipe asks of you.
Beat the eggs with salt and pepper, then pour spoonfuls into a hot pan so each spreads into a thin round. You want them thin and fully set, not fluffy: a thick omelette turns spongy in broth. Cook, lift out, and cut into strips once they have firmed up.
Five small eggs makes enough for six bowls, so the strips are a garnish with substance rather than the bulk of the soup.
Two minutes, and not a minute more
The strips go into the finished soup for two minutes. That instruction is precise for a reason.
The egg is already cooked, so it only needs warming. Left simmering, it goes rubbery, and worse, it starts releasing protein into the broth, which clouds a soup you spent half an hour keeping clear.
Which also means the tortillas go in when everyone is ready to eat, not when the soup is technically done.
The vegetables, and why there are two potatoes
Ordinary potato and papa criolla both go in, and they are not redundant.
The ordinary potato holds its shape and gets eaten in pieces. Papa criolla, the small yellow Andean potato sold frozen in Latin groceries, partly dissolves and turns the broth golden and slightly thick. Take it out and the soup is thinner and paler. Baby Yukon Gold is the nearest substitute if you cannot find it.
The recipe lets you choose between cassava and green plantain. Cassava breaks down more and thickens further; green plantain stays firm. Both are normal.
On the colouring
Colombian recipes call for a pinch of what is sold there as azafrán, and it is worth knowing that this is not Spanish saffron. It is a yellow colouring powder, usually turmeric or annatto based, cheap and used by the spoonful.
It changes how the soup looks and almost nothing about how it tastes, so leaving it out costs you very little. Turmeric does the same job.
How it is eaten
As lunch, with white rice on the side in its own bowl rather than stirred in, which is the Colombian habit with almost every soup. Cilantro over the top, avocado alongside if you have it.
It is filling enough to be the whole meal, which is what it usually is.
Other Colombian soups
- Chicken consomé — the plain broth this one is built on.
- Cassava and potato soup — the same roots, no egg.
- Chicken sancocho — the weekend version, with plantain and corn.
Egg Tortilla Soup FAQ
No. Mexican tortilla soup is a tomato and chilli broth with strips of fried corn tortilla in it. This is Colombian, the broth is chicken with potato and cassava, and the tortillas are made of egg. The two dishes share a word and nothing else.
Eggs. In Colombia, as in Spain, a tortilla is an omelette. Here you beat five eggs, cook them in a separate pan as thin flat omelettes, cut them into strips and drop them into the finished soup. There is no corn and no dough involved anywhere.
At the very end, for two minutes only. They are already cooked, so all they need is to warm through. Leave them in longer and they go rubbery and start shedding into the broth, which turns it cloudy. Make them while the soup simmers so they are ready when it is.
A small yellow Andean potato, waxy and thin-skinned, sold frozen in Latin groceries. It partly dissolves into the broth and gives it colour and body. Baby Yukon Gold is the nearest substitute, though it holds its shape more and colours the soup less.
Either, and the recipe offers both. Cassava breaks down more and thickens the broth; green plantain holds its shape and stays firmer, with a faint starchiness. Neither is more correct. Cassava is the more common choice in this particular soup.
White rice on the side, in its own bowl rather than stirred in, which is how most Colombian soups are eaten. Avocado and a wedge of lime both work. It is lunch food rather than a starter, and generous enough to be the whole meal.
📖 Recipe
Colombian Egg Tortilla Soup (Sopa de Tortilla de Huevo)
Imprimir Pin ComentarIngredients
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup potatoes, diced
- 1 cup cassava, diced, or 1 green plantain, diced (either one; the cassava thickens the broth more)
- ½ onion, grated or finely chopped
- 1 cup papa criolla, diced (small yellow Andean potatoes, sold frozen in Latin groceries; baby Yukon Gold is the nearest substitute)
- 1 small carrot, diced
- ¼ bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 sprig cilantro, finely chopped (the leaf, not the seed)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 5 small eggs (these become the omelettes in step 4, which is what the soup is named after)
- Salt, cumin, pepper and achiote colouring, to taste (the colouring is for looks only)
Notas
Instructions
- In a large pot, fry the garlic, bell pepper and onion until translucent, then add the chicken broth. Once it boils, add all the vegetables, the potatoes and the cassava.
- Season with salt, cumin and pepper. For more colour, add a pinch of achiote, which is what is sold in Colombia as azafrán.
- Simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes, until everything is tender.
- While the soup simmers, beat the eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. In a separate pan, pour in spoonfuls of egg to make thin omelettes. Cut them into strips once they have set.
- When the soup is done, add the omelette strips and simmer for another two minutes, no longer: they only need to warm through.
- Serve hot with chopped cilantro over the top and white rice on the side.
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