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.