Sopa de Albóndigas de Pollo (Nicaraguan Chicken Meatball Soup)

Ingredients

For 8 servings

• •1 (4-pound) chicken, rinsed and cut into 8 pieces
• •1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
• •1 medium green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and quartered
• •5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• •1 sour orange, split in half (see notes)
• •1 /2 cup packed culantro (see notes)
• •1 /4 cup packed mint leaves
• •3 quarts water
• •1 c. à soupe salt
• •2 c. à café whole black peppercorns
• •1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• •1 /2 medium green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped
• •4 garlic cloves
• •2 c. à café achiote paste or powdered annato
• •3 c. à soupe unsalted butter
• •2 tasse corn masa mix, such as Maseca
• •1 c. à café kosher salt
• •1 /2 cup culantro, finely chopped (see notes)
• •1 /4 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
• •2 c. à soupe sour orange juice (see notes)
• •Cilantro and mint leaves for garnish

Method

1. 1.For the Chicken Soup: Place chicken pieces and backbone in large Dutch oven or large soup pot. Add onion, pepper, garlic, sour orange, culantro, and mint. Cover with water; stir in salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, skimming surface occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken pieces to large plate. When cool enough to handle, use paper towels to remove chicken skin; discard. Shred chicken finely. Strain broth into a large bowl. Discard solids and return broth to Dutch oven.
2. 2.For the Chicken Meatballs: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse onion, bell pepper, and garlic cloves until mixture is a fine paste, 15 to 20 one-second pulses. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion mixture and annatto and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and mixture has cooked down into a thick paste, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. 3.Add corn masa mix, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 cups (355ml) strained broth, culantro, mint, sour orange juice, and half the shredded chicken. Stir until thoroughly combined. To test seasoning, form a single 1/2-inch ball of dough. Bring broth to simmer over medium-low heat. Cook dumpling until it floats to surface, 4 to 5 minutes. Taste and add additional salt to masa mixture if needed.
4. 4.Using lightly oiled hands, shape dough into 1 1/2–inch balls (you should have about 30). Working in 2 batches, add shaped meatballs to simmering broth. Cook until meatballs float to surface, about 8 minutes. Transfer cooked meatballs to a plate, then repeat with remaining meatballs, setting all cooked meatballs on plate as they are ready. Add remaining shredded chicken to broth to heat through, about 1 minute. If serving immediately, divide meatballs between bowls (about 4 meatballs per bowl) and ladle broth over. Serve, garnished with herbs.