To my palate, Japanese sweet potatoes taste like chestnuts. And like chestnuts they are creamy and aromatic when roasted. But also like chestnuts, they are very rich and are best used in moderation.
Today I started out to make a carrot soup. A simple carrot soup with ginger and chili. But if you want a soup that is not too thin, then some sort of thickening agent is required. Most often, I use a plain white potato. Sometimes I use rice, sometime leftover mashed potatoes and sometimes flour - wheat or otherwise. I thought about the potato and decided to go with Japanese sweet potato instead to add flavor as well as starch.
When I roasted the sweet potato I threw in some beets and cabbage. Thought they would make a nice addition to the soup.
So, yet another yellow/green soup. Don't be fooled by the look. They all taste different.
BT's Carrot and Roasted Japanese Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients:
1 medium leek - white part only
1 small yellow onion
1 medium celeriac (or 3 ribs celery)
6 large sweet carrots
2 medium Japanese sweet potatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 finger length fresh ginger - grated (a lot of ginger)
1 small red chili - seeds and veins included
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 cups (1.5 l) water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 small bunch cilantro
5 sprigs fresh oregano
ground black pepper
Directions:
Place sweet potato in oven at 400 F. (200 C.) for 40 minutes
Remove and peel
Add oil to heavy gauge cocotte and put on medium low flame
When oil is hot add chili
Rough chop leek and onion and add to pot
Sauté 2 minutes
Peel celeriac and rough chop
Add to pot
Add ginger, turmeric, garlic, cloves and ginger powder
Sauté 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to color
Add salt and water
Bring to boil
Peel and rough chop carrots and add to pot
Add sweet potato
Add kaffir lime leaf and bay leaf
Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes
Purée soup with wand blender
For thinner soup
- after blending, push soup through sieve and conserve
Add cilantro and oregano and blend again
Add several grinds of black pepper
Serve with roasted beets/cabbage and labne or Greek yogurt
Enjoy! !בתיאבון
Image of soup in gorgeous bowl by Nicole Farhi
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