Thai flavours parsnip soup

Parsnips are not native to south east Asia, but they are growing in popularity in Thailand, and are now both a farmed crop and an import product. I find it interesting that one foodstuff can be pedestrian and common place in one continent can be seen as an unusual treat in another. I wouldn’t go as far as saying anyone thinks a parsnip is exotic however… I’ve seen them on sale in Thai markets next to more traditional veggies like kale and galangal roots, so parsnips + Thai flavours is not as crazy a combination as it may first sound, and it is a really fabulous flavour pairing.

This is a delicious alternative to make as a change to a typical curried parsnip soup. Although I love curried parsnip soup when it’s done well (which, let’s face it isn’t that hard), sometimes it can be a disappointment in a cafe when it’s just plain old boiled-down parsnip with some curry powder lazily tossed in. I’ve combined some authentic Thai tastes here, but I’ve tried to balance it so that you get the Thai flavours without overwhelming the parsnip. It’s all to easy to pile on flavourings and mask the main ingredient when you’re making a veggie soup, but parsnips have a lovely sweet, warming flavour and are deserving of a more delicate touch on stronger spices.

Some photos from our last trip to Thailand

Notes

• If you’re not worried about keeping this vegetarian you can use chicken stock, rather than vegetable stock
• Remember that not all chillies are created equal, even in the same variety the heat can vary between plants. Two chillies bought in the same batch could be very different, so judge how much chilli you are using if you don’t like it very hot. I can give you two tips on chilli heat: tip one is to cut the chilli and lightly rub it on your lip and see how tingly it is – if it’s going to really upset you, you’ll be able to judge this way. Tip two if you’re less terrified is to blend in only half a chilli at a time before tasting: you can always add all two (or even more chillies) eventually, but taking away heat is not so easy as adding a little more in!
• Can’t get a fresh coconut? Then a box of coconut milk powder is an awesome thing to keep in your kitchen cabinet: I use this in a number of my recipes. You can buy these ‘fairly’ easily now in the world food aisle in your bigger local supermarket or find a Caribbean store or market stall (brand names I’ve used are Maggi and Tropical Sun – I tend to pick up mine via an awesome local Caribbean market stall). Alternatively, you can use a tin of coconut milk, but drain out the liquid and use this as part of (not in addition to) the 1 litre stock content.

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Info

Serves about eight portions (this is large, but I’ve given this amount so that you can batch freeze), takes about 45 minutes to prepare and cook

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Equipment

• Large, deep saucepan with a lid (or cover with a plate)
• Stick blender or stand blender

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Ingredients

• Parsnips – about 5 large parsnips / roughly about 900g
• Vegetable (or chicken stock) – 1 litre
• Banana shallot or red onion – 1
• Garlic – 3 cloves
• Fresh ginger – about a 1 cm piece, peeled
• Red chillies – 2 (you need to adjust this according to your preferred heat level!)
• Lemon grass – one fresh stalk
• Oil, a plain olive oil or rapeseed oil – 1 tablespoon
• Coconut, either freshly grated or use coconut milk powder – 1 cup/around 90g
• Juice of ½ a lime
• Salt – ½ teaspoon
• Fresh ground pepper – ½ teaspoon
• Ground turmeric – ½ teaspoon
• Coriander or spring onions to garnish
• Additional chillies to garnish

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Method

1. Chop the shallot/onion, the garlic and the (peeled) ginger – they don’t have to be finely chopped as, of course, they’re going to get blended later
2. Fry the shallot/onion, garlic and ginger in the oil over a low heat until they are starting to soften
3. Peel the parsnips and chop them into medium-sized chunks
4. Add the parsnips to the saucepan and turn up the heat to medium-hot and fry off for two-three minutes until the parsnips are nicely coated in the oil and vegetables
5. Pour in the stock, add the salt, pepper and turmeric and turn up the heat until it all starts to bubble gently
6. From the bulb end of the lemon grass stalk, make a long cut along its length but don’t cut it into half – so you’ve split it but it’s still joined by about 2cm at the thin end
7. Place the lemon grass stalk in the pan
8. Leave to simmer very gently for about 20 minutes, with the lid on
9. Chop the chillies
10. When the parsnips are soft (but before they’re mushy) add in both the coconut and the lime juice and stir until the coconut is melted in
11. Add in the chillies (or half of them if you want to test the heat level) and turn off the heat
12. Using a stick blender, whizz up the soup in the sauce pan, or decant into a stand blender
13. Taste test – add more chillies (or chilli powder) to your soup if it’s not hot enough for you
14. Serve hot, decorated with more chillies (if you love it hot as I do) and a chopped handful of coriander leaves or spring onions (or even both). other ingredients that are nice sprinkled over this soup are more coconut, crispy fried onions or toasted peanuts/cashews

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