Sopa de fideo: the Mexican table soup with roasted tomato

What is it?

Sopa de fideo is probably the most-cooked soup in Mexican households. It is made by toasting dried fideos (vermicelli) in oil until they brown and then hydrating them in a broth of blended tomato, garlic and onion, all with chicken stock or water. The result is a brothy soup, reddish in colour, with tender but firm pasta. It is served as a starter soup in the Mexican 'comida corrida', that set lunch menu combining a brothy soup, a dry soup or rice, a main dish and dessert, and appears at fondas, family canteens, budget restaurants and school kitchens. There are dry and brothy versions, with or without vegetables, with or without chipotle chilli. It is a recipe of mestizo origin that arrived in Mexico with European dried pasta and adapted to the profile of local tomato and chillies. Mexico en mi Cocina and Excelsior consider it an essential family-cradle soup.

Origin and history

Sopa de fideo is a direct heir of Spanish and Arab-Andalusian cuisine. Fideos (short dried pasta) arrived in New Spain via Seville and Cadiz during the 16th century, in the same cargoes that brought wheat, olive oil and rice. In Sephardic and Andalusian cuisine, fideo soups with tomato already existed. When the American tomato joined the peninsular diet and returned to Mexico with Creole seasoning, sopa de fideo found its current form. The historian Jose N. Iturriaga documents that in the 19th century sopa de fideo was a habitual dish in bourgeois Mexican households, and by the beginning of the 20th century it had been democratised as a popular soup. The industrialisation of pasta, with brands such as La Moderna (founded in 1920) and Carozzi de Toluca, consolidated its place at the daily table. Larousse Cocina classifies it as a 'sopa aguada' (brothy soup) of the national repertoire, distinct from the 'sopa seca' (dry soup), which is the dry fideo or sopa seca de fideo.

Characteristic ingredients

Mexican fideo is sold in presentations of 200 to 1,000 grams, short and of medium thickness, in brands such as La Moderna, Carozzi or Yemina. Some presentations are 'fideo enroscado' (vermicelli) and others 'fideo number 5' or 'angel-hair type'. The base of the broth is ripe guaje tomato, garlic and onion, blended raw or lightly roasted for a deeper profile. It is strained so that no skins remain. Some cooks add chipotle chilli in adobo for a smoky-piquant version, others add epazote, parsley or coriander. The stock can be chicken, beef or just water with a stock cube. Regional variants include sopa de fideo with blended black beans (in Veracruz), with chipotle chilli (a modern version in Mexico City), dry with crema and cheese on top, or as a base for 'fideo seco' tostadas. It is an easy dish to prepare: in 20 minutes it is ready, which makes it ideal for office or school lunch.

Cultural significance

Sopa de fideo is an everyday dish of the Mexican 'comida corrida', that system of set lunch menus that structures the food of millions of Mexicans at fondas and budget restaurants. Sociologically, it represents the soup of childhood: it appears in Profeco surveys and magazines such as Animal Gourmet among the 'grandmother's flavours' that Mexicans associate with home. The 2010 UNESCO inscription of traditional Mexican cuisine focuses on the milpa-maize-chilli system, but the mestizo corpus, pasta soups, rice dishes, beef stews, forms part of the everyday national food identity. The pasta industry in Mexico, according to Inegi, produces more than 280,000 tonnes a year, and short fideos are the most consumed. Sopa de fideo is also a starter dish for children: many paediatricians and nutritionists recommend it as a first brothy solid food for infants. Its versatility has led chefs such as Enrique Olvera (Pujol) and Gabriela Camara (Contramar) to reinterpret versions for their menus as a nod to the country's gustatory memory.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between sopa de fideo and sopa seca de fideo?

Brothy sopa de fideo has broth and is eaten with a spoon as a starter. Sopa seca de fideo (or fideo seco) uses the same toasted fideo and tomato broth, but is cooked until the liquid evaporates completely, leaving a dry paella-style pasta. It is served with crema, fresh cheese and avocado, as a side or as a tostada topping.

What does sopa de fideo taste like?

It tastes of ripe tomato roasted with garlic and onion, with a toasted background contributed by the fideo browned in oil before being hydrated. The pasta is tender and absorbs the broth. If it has chicken stock, there is umami depth; if it has chipotle, smoky heat. It is comforting, slightly sweet from the tomato and very easy to eat.

How is sopa de fideo served?

It is served hot in a deep bowl with lime, diced avocado, crema or crumbled fresh cheese to taste. In many homes it is accompanied with tortillas, totopos or white bread. It is a starter soup in the Mexican comida corrida, before the main dish, and is also a single dish for a light lunch or children's dinner. Some diners add chile piquin or hot salsa.

Where is sopa de fideo originally from?

It is a mestizo soup born in Mexico from the combination of European dried fideos (via Spain, of Arab-Andalusian heritage) with American tomato. By the 19th century it was already a habitual dish in Mexican households. Today it is one of the most-cooked soups in the country and is considered a national everyday dish without a specific region of origin.