I grabbed this pea soup recipe from a friend of mine who used to put out THE BEST Indian food at his house in Bangkok. I simply loved going there every week. The smells of toasted cumin, bloomed fennel and freshly ground cardamom pods would instantly excite me. It was always pure inspiration mixed with food ecstasy. He definitely deserves a credit but I did manage to flip the recipe for my Western audience here in New York. I replaced some of the traditional Indian spices with more fresh herbs and a Western approach. I like to serve this right away to get the appetite working since it has so much cilantro.
Chilled Sugar Pea Mint Soup Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooked, fresh, bright green sugar peas
- 1 cup un-salted, homemade chicken stock (key!)
- 2 scallions
- 1/2 CUP coriander leaves (cilantro)
- 1/2 CUP fresh mint leaves (no stems)
- The zest of a half of lemon
- 1/8 CUP flat leaf parsley
- 1/8-1/2 tsp sea salt (depends on your tolerance/health)
- 1/2 of a jalapeño (seeded / ribbed)
- Finish with some freshly ground black pepper
Simply take everything and CuisineArt the “bleep” out of it. I recommend putting in 1/8 tsp of salt first and then season to taste – slowly.
It doesn’t get much easier than this but for a truly exceptional dish use a slow-cooked, homemade chicken stock. It will bring the dish to a new level of richness and depth.
You don’t need to serve a lot of the soup. Three to four healthy tablespoons will be a great experience – a soup your guests will remember. If you serve it up with the proper set pieces, oh my…’nuff said.