Thai Sweet Potato Soup

I've been really negligent. Last posting was back in February. I'd love to say that many wonderful, exciting things have been keeping me from posting, but it's just regular ol' life. Bad blogger...bad, bad blogger.

But, the good news is, I've been cooking quite a bit! I've got a few recipes and other information I'm hoping to catch up on, so here we go...

Believe it or not I do make more things than soup, but given the season, I thought I'd tiptoe back into the water with a wonderful little concoction that was inspired by a package of store-bought Pacific brand Thai Sweet Potato Soup.

I first tried a carton of this that I found at my local grocers. The velvety tanginess of the interplay between sweet potatoes and lemongrass intoxicated me, and I knew that I would have to try to make it. After looking around, I found a recipe that sounded pretty close, so I used that as a jumping off point, and added my own spin to it.

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 6 cups Vegetable Stock (eliminate the mushrooms and broccoli stems, and add in 2 stalks lemongrass, peeled, trimmed and cut into 3" long pieces and 1 T cardomom pods)
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, roasted, peeled and diced (divide in half)
• 2 T fresh ginger, minced
• 1 med onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and cut into 3-4 inch lengths, divided
• 1 can Coconut milk
• Chili Paste
• Curry Paste (I used powder)
• Brown Sugar
• olive or vegetable oil
• Lime (optional)
• Cilantro or Thai Basil (optional)

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Preheat oven to 400 and roast 2 # sweet potatoes for 40 min (or until easily pierced with fork). Peel and finely cube them. Set 1/2 of the cubed sweet potatoes aside.

Soup

1. In stockpot, sauté onions, garlic and ginger in olive or vegetable oil until translucent
2. Add lemongrass, stock and half of the sweet potatoes and bring to  boil, then reduce to simmer for 10-15 minutes
3. Remove lemongrass stalks and set aside (we’ll add them in again)
4. Using immersion blender or food processor, puree the soup mixture until smooth
5. Add coconut milk, 2-3 teaspoons of curry paste/powder, 1-2 teaspoons of chili paste and 1-2teaspoons brown sugar. Blend together, taste and adjust seasonings (Warning: Curry paste/powder and chili paste tend to start off relatively mild, then increase in flavor/spiciness over time. My first attempt I forgot this, and got a soup that was nearly too spicy to eat after the flavors had a chance to develop).
6. Add in remaining sweet potatoes and re-add lemongrass
7. Bring to boil, then reduce and let simmer for 30 minutes
8. Remove lemongrass stalks and discard. Serve soup garnished with fresh lime and cilantro or Thai basil

Enjoy this with some nice crusty bread or an Asian-inspired salad.