What happens when you plan to make one kind of soup and end up substituting half of the ingredients? You get something that might be similar, or it might be vastly different. I started out with this recipe from Quinta Brava in Oaxaca for Guias Soup. I never tried it while I was in Mexico, but it seemed different from anything else I’ve associated with Mexican cuisine so I wanted to try it.

Then I learned that the Mexican groceries in my city don’t carry chayote stems, chepil, or chepiche. My local AI-infused search engine told me I could substitute these ingredients for some more readily available, so…I gave it a shot. If you can access the original ingredients, give those a try — I’ve included both below.

I have no idea if this is anything like what it’s meant to be, but it’s tasty. It’s a chicken soup with plenty of vitamin-rich spinach, a little corn, and a unique flavor coming from the mint.

1 bunch chayote stems, peeled; OR 1 giant handful of spinach
1 bunch chepil; OR another giant handful of spinach
1 bunch chepiche; OR 1/2 bunch cilantro + 1/2 bunch mint
3 ears of CORN; OR 1 bag frozen corn
chicken broth
chicken, cooked
masa (powdered)
lard
salt/pepper to taste

Chop all the veggies. If you are using ears of corn rather than frozen, cut them from the cobs.

Add the corn to a pot of the chicken broth and bring to a boil. After a few minutes, add the veggies and cook until al dente.

Chop or shred the cooked chicken and add to the pot.

Make some chochoyotes (Mexican dumplings) by mixing masa with lard and making little balls. Add to the soup and stir gently; allow a few minutes to cook. (Note: my dumplings disintegrated, so this step needs workshopping, but it’s okay because the next step is to –) Add some masa powder to thicken.

Add some salt and season to taste.