Sopa de Lima

A Yucatecan home soup, recorded in regional cookbooks since the early 20th century but built on much older Maya chicken-and-citrus broths. The defining citrus, lima agria (Citrus limetta), came to Yucatán with the Spanish but adapted into a peninsula-specific variety; the soup as it stands today is post-contact, melding Maya broth-making with European poultry techniques and Caribbean limes.

Yucatecan citrus chicken soup — the lima used is lima agria (Citrus limetta), not Persian lime. Toasted habanero, achiote, fried tortilla strips. The broth must hit you with the lime before the heat.

A clear yellow chicken broth, sharp with lime, in a bowl with shredded poached chicken, fried tortilla strips floating on top, and a slice of habanero on the side for those who want it. The lime here is lima agria — a Yucatán-specific bitter-orange-lime hybrid, more aromatic than acidic. First sip is broth; second sip, the lime's perfume catches up. Tortilla strips are added at the table so they keep their crunch.

Lima agria carries more aromatic oils in the rind than citric acid in the juice — that's why the broth tastes perfumed, not puckery. The cook squeezes the lime in off the heat and lets it sit for one minute before serving; longer and the bitter rind oils dominate. Shorter and the aroma hasn't extracted. The tortilla strips are kept dry until the table specifically because lime-soaked broth softens fried tortilla in under a minute — a soggy strip is a serving error, not a recipe error.