The Best Picante Pollo Verde (Spicy Green Chicken) Soup

I WILL MAKE THIS BRIEF…

It all started one chilly afternoon in February. My lovely significant other and I were hanging out and talking about cold weather comforts and I brought up a Spicy Pollo Verde I wanted to try but could not find the full recipe online. So, we bought a random assortment of spicy green ingredients and the rest was history.

After toiling over the stovetop a couple of hours together, I ate two portions and sat holding my belly with both hands like a protective father.

This soup is one that we talk about as if it were out of a fable. The soup of our dreams. This soup could mend broken hearts, mold everlasting bonds and transform people. This soup was so good that it has become the first and foremost thing I think of when I hear the word “soup.”

We made it again just the other day and it was incredible but there was something in the first batch that just hit differently…

It was like that Tenacious D song Tribute. To briefly explain, the band is confronted by the Devil who asks them to play the best song in the world, which they eventually do! They try to replicate the original afterward but simply cannot recreate the exact same magic despite making an amazing Tribute to it.

Safe to say we have been chasing the dragon and hence formed a recipe we really enjoy and captures what we loved the first time.

Before making this, know you can tone down the spiciness by introducing fewer peppers to the mix and adding some additional tomatillos.

As I mentioned, I don’t remember all of the exact details but it went a little something like this:

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 1 hr 15 min

Total: 1 hr 30 min (or more depending on simmer time)

Ingredients:

Making the Damn Soup:

1. Start by putting your Serranos, Jalapenos, Poblanos and Tomatillos in a bowl then toss with Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper. Get a grill set to high heat and add the Peppers and Tomatillos occasionally rotating to blacken the skin. When these are all blackened, wrap the peppers in foil so they steam and release their skins easier. This can be done beforehand, the tomatillos and peppers will keep in the fridge.
2. Next, liberally salt and pepper the skin side of the Chicken and preheat Canola Oil to medium high heat in a deep cast iron skillet. Place Chicken into the pan skin side down, add salt and pepper to the unseasoned side.
3. While the Chicken is browning, begin to finely dice your Spanish Onion, Celery and Carrot to make a mirepoix. This step can be completed as prep since it can take time depending on your knife skills. Finely dice or mince up the Garlic as well. Flip the chicken once it is nice and golden brown (about 6 minutes) and let the other side brown.
4. Once the Chicken has browned on both sides, remove it to a dish with a paper towel underneath to drain excess oil and fat. Turn the burner to low and then add your finely diced mirepoix to the remaining fat in the pan and scape up any fond left in the pan from the chicken.
5. Cook down the mirepoix making sure to move often enough to keep it from browning. After the onions have become translucent, add the garlic and stir it in to cook until it has lost it’s raw scent. Add your Cumin and Chili Powder and stir in evenly.
6. Peel the skins off your peppers, cut them with the tomatillos into your preferred size and add them to the pot. As the tomatillos release their juices and marry flavors, loosely dice the green bell pepper and cut the shallot into half rings. Additionally, you can cut the greens of the Green Onions into small chutes.
7. Once you’ve cooked these flavors together a minute, add the chicken broth and water to deglaze the pan making sure to scrape up any fond left over. Now we will add our Shallot and Green Onion Chutes. 
8. After a minute or two, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary then add the Bay Leaves and Thyme.
9. Once seasoned, move the whole mess from a cast iron to a large pot for soup, bring to a boil and add back in the chicken with the bones in.
10. Once it reaches a boil, lower the heat to a bare simmer, cover the top and leave it for 45 minutes up to 5 hours. It is pretty forgiving at this stage.
11. Add the Green Bell Peppers whenever you like at this point while it is simmering, depending on the texture you would like to achieve. I like to put them in closer to the end so they still have some crunch.
12. Ten minutes before serving, remove the chicken and shred it off the bones with two forks then add it back to the soup. While the chicken reintegrates, roughly chop your Parsley and Cilantro, cut the whites of your Green Onions into small rings and slice your Avocado for toppings.
13. Serve in a bowl and enjoy your very own spicy Pollo Verde Soup!