This white pozole recipe from comedian Dulcé Sloan of The Daily Show on Comedy Central is her quick go-to for days when she’s feeling under the weather. An extremely easy soup to make, made with chicken thighs, hominy, and aromatics, it might be your next comfort food as well. One word of advice, don’t skip the garnishes!
Tomato noodle soup is the kind of simple comfort food that all little kids love. In fact, I ate it every week growing up, and I still look to it when I want something that’s easy on the stomach. The soup is usually made with chicken stock, but I use vegetable broth instead. I may be the only person to add crema to the dish. It’s not traditional at all, but I love the creaminess. It gives the soup a richness that reminds me of curry
A soup with a story behind it. Or perhaps I should say several stories, as with all good folklore. One version is this: there was a beautiful young woman named Ezo, who lived in a village in Gaziantep near the Turkish-Syrian border. Ezo struggled greatly when it came to finding matrimonial bliss; her first marriage ended when her husband fell in love with another woman and her second marriage took her far from home, to Syria, where she became deeply homesick and struggled with her mother-in-law. It is said that Ezo created this soup to win her mother-in-law around to her favor. Today, it is fed to brides on their wedding day to sustain them for the uncertain future ahead, and it is also found in almost every kebapçı (kebab restaurant) in Turkey, where it is often eaten for breakfast. Don’t skip the lemon juice before serving, it really enlivens the dish.
A good vegetable stock is an important ingredient to have on hand, but supermarket offerings don’t taste like vegetables, and traditional homemade versions are expensive and time-consuming to make. In our recipe, we grind a selection of fresh vegetables, salt, and savory ingredients to a paste that we can store in the freezer and reconstitute as needed. Leeks provide good allium flavor, and a small amount of freeze-dried onions support the fresh flavor of the leeks. Tomato paste and soy sauce provide an ultimate boost.