Szechuan Carrot Soup

Szechuan Carrot Soup

  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 2 hrs
  • Serves: 4-6,Yield: 6.0cups

    • About This Recipe

    “Excellent recipe from the Manchester Highlands Inn, Manchester, Vermont”

    Ingredients

  • 1mediumonion, chopped
  • 1celery rib, chopped
  • 1garlic clove, minced
  • 1teaspoonvegetable oil
  • 1lbcarrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 3/4 inchfresh gingerroot, peeled and sliced thin
  • 1/8 teaspoonhot red pepper flakes
  • 3cupschicken broth
  • 1 1/2 tablespoonssoy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tablespoonscreamy peanut butter
  • 1teaspoonsugar
  • 1teaspoonsesame oil
  • 1cupmilk

    • Garnish

  • 2tablespoonsheavy cream
  • 1/4 cupsour cream, mixed with the cream

    • Directions

  • In a large heavy saucepan cook onion, celery, and garlic in oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until onion is softened.
  • Add carrots, ginger root, red pepper flakes, and broth and simmer, covered, until carrots are very tender, about 45 minutes.
  • Stir in remaining ingredients and, in a blender or food processor, puree mixture in batches (use caution when blending hot liquids).
  • Return soup to pan and heat over low heat until hot, being careful not to let boil.
  • Serve soup drizzled decoratively with sour cream mixture.

    • Reviews

  • “This soup is wonderful! I love carrot soup and this was better than any I have had. The red pepper adds a little zip without making it hot.I used half and half instead of the milk because I had some in the refigerator. I will definately be making this often.”

  • “This is a pretty good soup recipe.I would agree with a couple of the other reviewers, that is a lot of sesame oil, so I cut it in half, and it was still a bit strong.I also, doubled the garlc, reduced the peanut butter to 1 tablespoon, and also added a bit of marsala wine.IMPORTANT:if you let this boil once the milk is in it it will curdle, so make sure you watch that.:)”

  • “Delicious! I did everything exactly as you instructed and it turned out great. We didn’t use the garnish, however, because we’re watching the calories but the soup didn’t really need it. We also baked a couple of potatoes and cut them into cubes and added a few chunks into the soup to fill us up quicker. The only thing that would make the recipe better was to have more of an exact measurement for the ginger. Thanks Mille for an easy, nutritious soup!”

  • “Very Easy and very good!! This soup was simply delicious! I read all the reviews and cut back on the sesame oil like I was advised and it tuned out great! I used 1% milk and just used low fat sour cream, to cut back on the calories, However I did cook the onions and garlic in butter,Next time I make it I might add some hot sauce for some added heat!This soup will be added to my weekly soup rotation.”

  • “Yummy!This was so good, even though I cooked it uncovered by accident, and all the water boiled away and I had to add more at the end when I realized my mistake.Even though it’s delicious like this, the only change I would make is to use a teeny bit less peanut butter and a little more soy sauce (or just salt).I also used a Chinese leek instead of celery. But it’s still worth 5 stars!PS- not to get too wordy, but I live in China and the all of the fresh vegetables together only cost me 50 cents.So it’s also awesome because it’s so affordable!”

  • “WOW!WOW!WOW!If you are looking for for a healthy, hearty soup then look no further.(We’re sensitive to onions so we left that out.)I garnished mine with cilantro and crushed peanuts.I think next time I’ll triple it so we can eat on it for a few days.Thanks so very much!”

  • “Cooked this at the end of last summer and it was a great way to use up a glut of carrots. Tasty and interesting combination of flavours. Just cooked it up again today. With the vegies I substituted leek for onion and sweet potato for celery, still quite delicious and healthy.”

  • “this soup was wonderful! Will make again and again. I did not have the hot pepper flakes so I used red chili oil.”

  • “This a fanastic soup and you can make it as spicy as you want/like.I used a tablespoon or two ofSirachi to spice it up some more (the heat was a bit over the top for ‘company’, according to my wife) just before blending.We both loved it extra hot, and would serve this to ‘company’ per recipe instructions.”

  • “I was looking for a different recipe for my carrots and am glad i stumbled upon this.The entire family enjoyed.”

  • “My husband loved this soup, but although it was very tasty, I was a little disappointed. I somehow expected more, some ‘wow’ factor that was missing. I usually love (toasted) sesame oil in recipes, but to my taste, this tiny amount was dominant over other flavours. Next time I’ll try a half tspn. Perhaps I’ll added or garnish it with some chopped cilantro, or even some chopped chives, too.”

  • “This has to be the most delicious soup I have ever had in my life!!!!It is a perfect balance of sweet and spicy. The combination of flavors is fabulous.”

  • “rave reviews on this one! a really nice combination of flavours. i used my trusty stick blender, rather than a bar blender. i didn’t have any sour cream on hand, so i just had a glass of milk with it. helped clean the palatte, and cut the richness a bit. “

  • “Excellent soup. I enjoyed it very much. I cut the carrots smaller in order to reduce the cooking time a bit. To cut down on fat, I used skim milk and drizzled with a mixture of yogurt and milk. It was slightly spicy and VERY tasty.”

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