Thursday, September 20th, 2012 | posted by mike
Serves 4
24 large shrimp (21-25 count per lb.)- we use wild gulf shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails off
1 med. – large butternut squash- peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups chicken stock
1 med. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (half goes in the soup, half cooks with the shrimp)
Olive oil
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 T roasted red chili paste (we used Thai kitchen brand)
Juice from 1/2 a lime
1 T fish sauce (nuoc mam)
1 can 13.5 fl oz. coconut milk (I like Chaokoh brand)
6-8 basil leaves, thin slice
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 t fresh Thai chili, fine chop or 1 t chopped jalapeño
In a stockpot over med. high heat, add about 1 T olive oil then the onion and garlic. Stir until onion starts to soften and garlic just starts to brown
Stir in ginger and chili paste
Add chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce and squash pieces
Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for around 20-25 min. or until squash pieces are soft
Spoon out squash mixture into a blender, leaving a lot of the liquid in pot, use to adjust consistency later
Blend until creamy, add more liquid if you need to end up with a velvety, thick but soup like consistency
Return soup to pot and keep at very low heat
In a skillet or heavy pan, over med. – high heat add 2T olive oil then the rest of garlic and the chopped pepper
When garlic softens and just starts to brown, add shrimp and stir fry for about 4-5 min. or until shrimp are opaque in the center
Portion soup into bowls and add 6 shrimp to each serving, leaving a couple of shrimp visible in the center for looks
Garnish with sliced basil and chopped cilantro
[...] thought that for this week’s recipe it would be nice to try something that would utilize squash (I chose butternut) with some type of [...]