Roast carrot Thai soup

I picked up some carrots at the farmers market this week and they were so fresh and bursting with flavour I decided to make a carrot soup.  I have made this soup (or something very similar) in the past and it always a favourite, roasting the carrots brings out their natural sweetness and really adds something to the taste of this soup.

1 bunch of carrots peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 clove of garlic sliced
2" of ginger peeled and sliced
1 hot pepper thinly sliced
1 tablespoon of cilantro chopped
2 cups of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
Juice of one lemon
Optional
1 cup of coconut milk or 1/3 cup of creamed coconut


Place the sliced carrots tossed in a  little olive in a shallow roasting tin

Roast at 350 for about 1/2 an hour.  While the carrots are roasting prepare the garlic, ginger and hot pepper.

Then add them to the chicken stock along with the lemon juice, and fish sauce.  To get the real Thai flavour you always have to have something sweet (roasted carrots) something salty (fish sauce) something sour (lemon or lime juice) and something hot (chili pepper). It is important to get all those flavours and balance them, so you can add a little more or less of each to get the right balance. If the carrots were not very sweet then you can add a little brown sugar.

Simmer the stock with all flavor enhancers in it until the carrots are ready.  They should be just starting to  brown but not too dark or you might get a burnt flavour.

Carrots ready for soup

Tumble the carrots into the stock and simmer for a further 15 or so minutes until the carrots are really soft.

Then blend in a blender or as I do use a hand blender to create a pureed soup, or if you prefer you could leave it as is.

Sometimes I add coconut milk and sometimes not, this time I added about 1/3 cup of creamed coconut

This comes in a block which you can find in the ethnic aisle at the Superstore in the Indian section or at speciality stores.  It is cheap keeps for ever in the fridge and adds a nice coconut flavour to soups and curries. This a photo of the package.

Taste for seasoning and add a little more stock or water if the soup is a too thick after pureeing.

I sprinkled a little freshly ground coriander on the top when I served.  This made a wonderful soup to eat on the deck on a warm sunny fall day.  As well as dinner for two on a not so beautiful fall day after a long day at work.