New Mexico Chili Soup

New Mexico is the U.S. capital of green chile, and any soup with the state’s name on it has to honor that fact. The hero ingredient here is fresh green chiles, peeled and seeded, chopped into the pot. Roasted Hatch chiles are the gold standard if you can find them; canned chopped green chiles work in a pinch but lose some of the smoky char that fresh-roasted ones bring.

This is a brothy chili rather than a thick stew. Ground beef browns with chopped onion, gets dusted with a tablespoon of flour to lightly thicken the eventual broth, then meets canned tomatoes, garlic, the green chiles, chili powder, and a pinch of cumin. Water joins to loosen everything into soup territory.

The “simmer for several hours” instruction is doing real work in the directions. Long, slow heat is what melds the canned tomato flavor with the meat and the chili spice into something deeper than a quick weeknight chili could ever be. Low heat, partial cover, occasional stir.

Serve with warm flour tortillas, a wedge of lime, and a sprinkle of grated cheese for the proper New Mexican presentation.

Chef Tips

• Roast the green chiles directly over a gas burner or under the broiler until the skin blisters and blackens. Steam in a covered bowl for 10 minutes, then peel. The smoky char is the difference between good and great.
• Brown the ground beef hard before adding anything else. The fond on the bottom of the pan dissolves into the soup and adds savory depth.
• Skim the fat off the surface after the long simmer. The flour helps thicken but the rendered beef fat pools on top and tastes greasy.
• Taste and adjust salt at the end, not the beginning. Reduction concentrates the salt that is already in the canned tomatoes.

Variations

• Stir in a can of pinto beans for the last 30 minutes for a heartier, more chili-like bowl.
• Add a half cup of corn kernels in the last 15 minutes for sweetness and color contrast against the green chiles.
• Swap half the ground beef for ground pork for a richer, more traditional Northern New Mexican flavor profile.