Thai pumpkin soup with spanner crab
AWW
5 stars - based on 3 reviews
Thai pumpkin soup with spanner crab
By AWW May 2008
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
- 3 shallots (French), chopped finely
- 800g butternut pumpkin, peeled, chopped coarsely
- 2 medium (300g) vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
- 3 cups (750ml) salt-reduced chicken stock
- 270ml can coconut cream
- 1-2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ½ cup picked spanner crab meat (or chopped cooked prawns)
- 2 small fresh red chillies, sliced thinly
- ¼ cup baby coriander leaves
- 2 tablespoons packaged fried shallots
Preparation method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan; add curry paste, cook until fragrant. Add ginger and shallots; cook, stirring, until translucent.
Add pumpkin and tomatoes, stir to coat. Add stock, bring to the boil; simmer, uncovered, until the pumpkin is very soft. Blend the soup and return to the same clean pan.
Over a gentle heat, stir in the coconut cream and enough water to achieve the desired consistency. A thinner soup is better for this recipe as it does not overwhelm the crab – you are looking for the consistency of pouring cream. Stir until soup is hot.
Season the soup with fish sauce and lime juice to taste; do not boil. Divide among 6 warmed soup bowls.
Top each serving with some of the crab meat, the chilli, coriander and fried shallots.
Soup suitable to freeze and microwave.
Cook's note: Fried shallots are available from the Asian section of most supermarkets and Asian food stores. This soup is medium in chilli heat; omit the chillies for a milder soup.
Photographer: Ian Wallace Stylist: Yael Grinham
A daily cup of cocoa could ward off diabetes: expertsAdding cocoa powder to your diet could reduce inflammation, which is a known risk factor for diabetes, a US study suggests.
Choc wafer cookies with rose icing and cranberriesAre you always caught with your hand in the cookie jar or is one cookie just never enough? Well I can totally sympathise with you and I can tell you, it is because cookies are just so deliciously...
Sydney cafe offers coffee for a kissBehind the St. James railway station, looking out over Hyde Park, is the romantic Paris-style Metro St James cafe where this June customers can pay for their coffees with a kiss instead of cash.
