Spicy Peanut Soup
I don’t know about you, but I can handle the cold. It’s when it’s cold and damp that I feel a chill settle down into my bones. It’s so hard to shake.
So tonight I thought I warm up with a bowl of Spicy Peanut soup.
Growing up, and to this day, my Mom was the master of using up what’s left in the fridge and one of her many creations was this amazing spicy peanut soup. When she made it, she would use a pre-made jar of Szechuan Peanut Sauce. I didn’t have that so I added all the elements of a good peanut sauce.
Elements
Potatoes
1.5l Stock or water
Ginger
Garlic
Shallot
Garlic Chili Paste
Sesame Oil
Natural Peanut butter
Dark Soy Sauce
Lime
Roasted Peanuts for Garnish
I cubed the potatoes, skin on, and gave the shallot and ginger a rough chop. Everything is going to get blended together so you don’t need to worry about how it looks.
I cooked off the shallot and ginger in a pan till the shallot got a nice golden brown colour, added the garlic and potatoes and covered with the stock (for this recipe you can use chicken or veggie stock, I’m keeping to my three days a week so I went for some veggie stock I made a few weeks ago from the freezer).
Let that simmer away till the potatoes are falling apart, then add the peanut butter and chilis I started with about a 2/3 of a cup of peanut butter and 2 tbsp of chili paste. Then you hit the whole thing with the immersion blender.
Once it’s blended it’s time to customize. I added in a bit of soy and sesame oil, then did a taste chec and when back for more chili. Some people like it more nutty and some more chili forward, so just play with it till you get the soup to the flavour you like.
Sometime too much liquid will cook off when you’re boiling the potatoes, if your soup feels too think just add a little more stock or even water.
Once it was ready I made a bowl and topped it with some fresh roasted peanuts, they add a nice little textural element to the soup. I also serve it with lime to brighten up the flavours right at the end.
Once you have your soup, curl up on the sofa in your sweatpants and you can pretend that it’s not freezing rain outside!
