Karl’s Japanese Style Carrot Soup

Adapted from a Smitten Kitchen recipe and a Just Bento recipe

Once again, Eilene is having friends over. I decided I would make chicken teriyaki and rice. I wanted to make a side dish, but it was too late to make pickles. I have been making blended soups lately, so I thought I would make a carrot soup with an Asian twist.

Karl’s Japanese Style Carrot Soup

Karl’s Japanese Style Carrot Soup

Ingredients

2 Tbs. peanut oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 lb. heirloom carrots, grated
32 oz. low sodium chicken broth (vegetable broth for vegetarian)

1 Tbs. corn starch mixed with 1 Tbs. cool water

¼+ cup white miso paste
1 Tbs. ponzu
               OR ¾ Tbs. lime juice, 1 tsp. soy sauce, and ¼ tsp. lime zest
1+ Tbs. fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp. Hon dashi (leave out or use konbu powder for Vegan)
½ tsp. sugar

¼ cup red bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, green parts only very thinly sliced

Directions

1. Put the oil in a soup pot over medium high heat.

2. Sauté the onions until soft, about five minutes.

3. Add the shredded carrots and continue cooking until the carrots are soft, about another five minutes.

Tip: You are not trying to brown the vegetables. For Japanese cuisine, you want a delicate vegetal flavor, not a sledge hammer to the mouth.

4. Add ¾ of the broth and bring the pot to a boil.

5. Cover and reduce the heat, simmer for 20 minutes.

6. Transfer the soup to a standing blender and process until smooth.

7. Return the soup to the pot.

Tip: Use the remaining broth to rinse out the blender jar.

8. Put the miso, ponzu (lime juice, soy sauce, and zest), ginger, dashi, and sugar in a small bowl.

9. Add some of the warm soup to the bowl and mix to soften and blend the miso into the other ingredients.

10. Stir the cornstarch slurry and the finishing mixture in the bowl into the soup.

11. Continue stirring until the soup thickens and come up to serving temperature, 2-3 minutes.

Tip: Do not let the soup come to a full boil.

12. Transfer the soup to individual bowls and garnish with the red pepper and green onions.