Poblano Corn Soup (Vegan)

Here's an update to the site's most debated recipe!  The original Poblano Soup has divided the world into two:  those who love it, and those who think it's way too spicy.

This version is vegan, gluten-free, and the addition of corn dilutes the heat a little bit.   I hope these adjustments get the other half to crave this soup as much as I do 🙂

How To Make Poblano Corn Soup

Poblano chiles are mild by nature, but when you use a bunch of them the heat can really add up!  Exactly how spicy are Poblanos?

These Poblanos were larger so I only used 4 of them -- when they are smaller I tend to use 5-6 of them. 

And of course, you'll get a massive bump in flavor if you roast these beauties first. 

I default to the oven as that is the easiest, but you can also roast them over an open flame or stick 'em under the broiler.  Here's how this batch looked after 30  minutes in the oven (400F):

See all those puffy bits of skin?  You can pull off any dangling bits, but don't worry about getting rid of all of it -- the skin doesn't affect the flavor and since we're blending these Poblanos it won't affect the texture either. 

Once you get the Poblanos in the oven you can start building the rest of the soup. 

Start by cooking a roughly chopped onion and 4 garlic cloves in some oil over medium heat. 

I usually just leave the garlic cloves whole as all of this will be blended together.

For this batch I used 1/2 potato to thicken up the soup, but you are welcome to use your preferred thickener, with a few tablespoons of flour being a common option. 

Once the onion was starting to brown I added the cubed 1/2 potato and let it cook for a few minutes:

And then I added the rest of the ingredients:

4 cups stock 
the roasted Poblanos, de-seeded and de-stemmed
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano What is Mexican oregano?
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt 
freshly cracked black pepper

Bring this up to a simmer and let it cook until the potatoes are softened -- that was about 10 minutes for this batch. 

Add the mixture to a blender and give it a good whirl.  Be sure to use caution when blending hot liquids.

Return the soup to the pan and add the corn.

I also added another pinch of Mexican oregano and cumin to this batch. 

And that is plain ol' canned corn in the pic above -- you'll get loads of flavor from the roasted Poblanos, so canned corn will do the job just fine when fresh isn't available.

Be sure to give a final taste for seasoning as the amount of salt you'll need will vary depending on which stock you use. 

I used this homemade Vegetable Stock that has no sodium, so I had to add a bit more salt to this batch. 

I'm also in the habit of adding some finely diced cilantro stems to this soup. 

Texture-wise the crunch of the stems works better than the leaves, so it's worth a go if you've never tried it before.

And don't forget to add a final burst of acidity right before serving!  A squeeze of lime or a few drops of hot sauce will do the job quite well. 

Okay I hope this version inspires some of you to give it a try.  Freshly roasted Poblanos have tremendous flavor and this soup takes full advantage of that!

Buen Provecho. 

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