Getting started- Thai-Inspired Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup

Thai-Inspired Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup

I had an over-abundance of unused produce floating around in my kitchen and I was looking for a recipe that would use them all in a cohesive manner. I peeped into the pantry and saw two containers of College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth that we had picked up on clearance at Big Lots. "Soup!", I thought.

I love Thai flavors and use them often in my kitchen. I also have access to some pretty amazing ethnic grocers and a Whole Foods store. I added specialty ingredients that you need not use to make a variation on the recipe. I also added a few things that I needed to use up or I thought might add to the texture or flavor that you could certainly omit. I have starred * the must use ingredients to make a soup that works, it will be less Thai tasting, but I am sure it will still be tasty. I love to riff on recipes so I have annotated this one heavily, not only so you can make the recipe in a way you would like to eat it, but also so I can remember my thought process to make it again in a different way. So, don't be frightened off, it is a very easy recipe with lots of variations.

Happy cooking!


Ingredients

1 to 1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes *

1 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped or sliced fine *

1 lb potato, peeled and diced (I added this to lighten the texture)

3 stalks celery, diced (I had celery to use up)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil *

1 Tbsp butter (I like the mix butter & oil bring to the flavor, you could use all oil or use another oil. Grape seed oil would be a healthy choice but it has no flavor)

1 onion, chopped * (or 4 chopped shallots would be even better or part onion and part scallion would be good, too)

1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger root, thinly sliced * (You could use more ginger if you like it)

3 cloves garlic, minced *

3 tsp-1 Tbsp red curry paste * (I used Thai Kitchen Brand. The brands vary in heat levels. I used 1 Tbsp and it was spicy, and though not overpowering, I would reduce it next time. You could omit this, but I wouldn‘t. It adds a needed complexity to the soup)

1 Tbsp curry powder (I wanted to reinforce the spice flavors without adding extra heat.  If you omit the red curry paste, I would definitely use it)

1 Tbsp tomato paste (I added this to boost the umami flavors. This is a way to make you feel satisfied without animal protein)

1   15 oz can pumpkin puree (I had used a 29 oz can of pumpkin puree to make bread and had about this much pumpkin left over, it is not necessary.)

2   32 oz. containers of College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth * (I happened to have this on hand. You could use chicken broth or stock or vegetable broth. You could also use just water, but I would do that only if you used the specialty ingredients or made a Thai stock from scratch as the soup would be pretty bland that way)

1   15 oz can unsweetened light coconut milk * (you could use regular coconut milk or even coconut cream but it will increase the levels of saturated fat. You could also add more, but it will increase fat & calories significantly)

Zest and juice of 1 lime *

Zest and juice of 1 lemon (I had an extra lemon in the fridge)

1 Tbsp tamari soy sauce (Also an ingredient to increase the umami. You could just salt to taste)

1 Tbsp fish sauce (This is one of the specialty ingredients that makes Thai food taste “Thai”. You could certainly omit, especially if using the Thai culinary broth)

1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil (I love this flavor and it is very Thai tasting, but if you don’t have or like it, it is easily omitted)

1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro (Again, another Thai essential, but you can omit it if you don‘t like it.  You could also substitute chopped parsley)

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper *

Salt to taste

Directions

(To avoid peeling and chopping the sweet potatoes, you could: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place the sweet potatoes directly on the rack and bake until tender enough to easily pierce with a fork, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Remove the skins from the sweet potatoes and cut into bite size chunks. Add at the last 5 minutes of cooking. You could also use leftover cooked sweet potatoes. I chose to simmer the chopped potatoes in the broth because I prefer the texture and I feel they pick up more of the seasonings that way)

Heat the oil and butter (if using) in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion (or shallots or scallions) and ginger (and celery if using); cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic. Cook 1 minute, being sure not to add color to the garlic as it can add an unwelcome bitterness to the dish. Stir in the curry paste, tomato paste, curry powder, and citrus zest, and cook until fragrant and beginning to thicken. Add pumpkin puree if using and cook 1 minute also. Add the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender. If you are going to puree the soup, make sure the vegetables are very tender or the texture is not as good.

Turn off the heat. Stir in coconut milk, {soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, lemon juice, and cilantro (if using any of these, they would be added now)} and lime juice. Season with salt (do not add salt if using fish sauce and soy sauce unless it really needs it) and pepper.

You can leave the soup as is; it is really very good with the chunky vegetables and would lend itself well to the addition of chicken or shrimp in this state. Or, you can puree it in a blender, food mill, or food processor (or use an immersion blender). If they texture is not right, add liquid (more coconut milk, broth, water, etc.). If you have made it too spicy, add more coconut milk. Ladle into bowls and garnish.

Additions that would be good

Lemongrass ^, kaffir lime leaves ^, peanut butter (I would add at the end and be aware it will make the soup thicken a lot after it is refrigerated), scallions (in the soup or as a garnish), basil (Thai basil would be especially good, in the soup or as a garnish), chicken (could add cooked chicken or poach chicken in the soup), shrimp (could poach the shrimp in the soup or top with crunchy shrimp), rice noodles (cooked separately and stirred in or floated on the top), cooked rice, red lentils (these would increase the protein and add good flavor), red kidney beans (would also increase the protein but wouldn’t add much flavor) ^ if you used these, you definitely could make your own stock.

Garnishes that would be good

Toasted or raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, chopped scallions, chopped herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley, mint), fried garlic chips, yogurt, slices of red pepper, citrus zest, toasted coconut, croutons, minced chili (if you like heat), sesame oil drizzle