SPICY PUMPKIN COCONUT SOUP
Wednesday October 29,2008
Spice up Hallowe’en with Simon Rimmer’s aromatic roast pumpkin soup, complete with a chilli kick. Serves 6.
INGREDIENTS
4 stalks of lemon grass
6 kaffir lime leaves
2 x 50mm ginger root, peeled
2 garlic cloves, peeled
6 red chillies
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
500g pumpkin, peeled and chopped
Sea salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
5g cumin seeds
600ml vegetable stock
400ml tin coconut milk
Fresh coriander sprigs, to garnish
1 cucumber, chopped and deseeded
Fresh mint sprigs, to garnish
For the rice balls:
500g Thai rice, cooked
125g roasted peanuts, crushed
Small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
vegtable oil, for deep- frying
METHOD
1) Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
2) Peel the outer coating from the lemon grass stalks and finely chop the white bulbous part of the stalks, discarding the rest. Remove the tough central veins from the kaffir lime leaves.
3) In a food processor blend together the lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, garlic, chillies and lime juice into a smooth paste. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
4) Place chopped pumpkin in a roasting tray, sprinkle with sea salt, toss with 1tablespoon oil. Roast for 35 minutes until softened.
5) While the pumpkin is roasting, make the rice balls. In a food processor pulse-blend half of the cooked rice into a paste. Mix together the rice paste, remaining rice, half of the lemon grass paste, peanuts and chopped coriander. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
6) Shape the rice mixture into 25mm balls. Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep fat-fryer or wok. Once the oil is very hot fry the rice balls in batches until golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and set aside to keep warm.
7) To make the soup, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy-based saucepan. Gently fry the
shallots and cumin seeds for 3-5 minutes, then add the remaining paste and fry,
stirring often, for 5 minutes until fragrant.
8) Add the roast pumpkin to the pan, mixing well, and fry for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 7-8 minuets.
9) Blend together the pimpkin mixture and the coconut milk until smooth. Reheat the soup.
10) To surve, ladle the soup into surving bowls and sprinkle with coriander springs, chopped cucumber and mint sprigs. Serve with rice balls.
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