Saturday, November 25, 2006

Pumpkins, sweet potatoes and thailand oh my?









I know I'm such a nerd. But this soup is delicious to the MAX people!

1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups pumpkin, baked and pureed
1 sweet potato, baked
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken stock
3 lemongrass stalks (bottom 5 inches only), coarsely chopped
1 (1-inch) piece galangal (thawed if frozen), peeled and coarsely chopped
3 to 5 fresh (1 1/2-inch) Thai chiles or 2 fresh jalapeño chiles, trimmed and coarsely chopped (seed chiles if a milder flavor is desired)
4 kaffir lime leaves (fresh or frozen)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk

Method:
Cook onion, garlic, and ginger in 1 tablespoon oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Add pumpkin and wine. Boil, uncovered, until wine is reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Stir in stock and simmer, add sweet potato in chunks, covered, until pumpkinand potato is tender, about 20 minutes.

Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté lemongrass, galangal, and chiles to taste, stirring, until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir in lemongrass mixture, lime leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk if you want.

Let your tastebuds take control!!!

2 comments:

Anita said...

Galangal is actually alot different from ginger than i thought. I found this awesome vietnamese grocery store near my house that had fresh galangal. The taste is more wintergreeny than ginger.

Anita said...

oh yeah, and if you add sweet potatoes, then theres no need to add sugar like the recipe suggests.But the sweet goes so well with the sour and salty!