Sopa Seca

Literally translated as dry soup, sopa seca is really not a soup at all. It is, in fact, a dish usually based on rice, vermicelli or dry tortilla strips combined with tomatoes, onions and garlic and cooked in a broth. It's assumed that the name comes from the fact that, although the mixture begins soupy, it is cooked until the liquid is entirely absorbed -- thereby becoming a dry soup. The Mexicans usually serve sopa seca as a luncheon dish or as a separate course, much as Italians serve a pasta course.