Chicken and Vegetable Soup with Chipotle Chilies (Caldo Tlalpeño)

In Mexico City, Josefina López Méndez, chef at Chapulín restaurant, taught us to make a chicken and vegetable soup brimming with texture, colors and layers of delicious flavors. Called caldo tlalpeño, Mendez’ soup was boldly seasoned with aromatics such as tomatoes, onion and garlic, and was subtly smoky and spicy with chipotle chilies. Shredded chicken plus vegetables cooked until just tender gave the soup substance. Chickpeas, we later learned, are a common ingredient in classic caldo tlalpeño, but Méndez favors rice—she ladled the finished soup over already cooked rice that had been divided among individual bowls. In adapting her recipe, we slightly streamlined the process, using some of the broth that becomes the soup to steam the rice. Last-minute garnishes—avocado, cheese and cilantro—soften with the heat of the broth, their flavors and aromas mixing and mingling. Méndez offered a charred habanero salsa on the side to be stirred in to taste by diners. The spicy, tangy, bitter notes made the soup even more dynamic. Our version of her salsa follows; we highly recommend making a batch if you can, though the soup is terrific even without.