A great potato soup is always a comforting dish in cold and rainy days. With this recipe, you will turn a classic dish into a supreme dish. You will bring a regular potato soup to another level. Don’t get scared. The recipe is easy and you will probably find all the ingredients at your regular or Asian supermarket. With this recipe, you will get four portions of the creamy potato soup. I added also some chicken, which you can easily leave out if you are vegetarian.
Maybe some of you are not familiar with bear’s garlic that I used in this recipe. It is also called wild garlic and ramsons. If you are going to the woods to search for it yourself, be careful not to pick some poisonous plant that looks quite similar to the wild garlic. The best time to find it is in April, when bear’s garlic is at its peak. If you don’t like any risk, just buy it in the shop.
Ingredients:
- 5 potatoes (medium)
- 1 lemongrass
- 1 big bunch of bear’s garlic (also known as wild garlic)
- 2 Tbsp of coconut cream/milk
- 1 Tbsp of shredded coconut flakes
- 1 onion
- 400 g of chicken (bite size pieces)
- 2 Tbsp of red lentils (as topping)
- 1 handful of cilantro (save some leaves for decoration)
- 3 walnuts or 5 hazelnuts
- 1,2 l of hot water
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
How to make it:
Start with making the pesto. Wash the garlic leaves and put them in a blender; leaving a couple of leaves for the soup. Add the nuts, some cilantro, olive oil, salt and blend until you get an almost smooth paste. I like it when there are still some small chunks of nuts in it. Put it aside.
Wash, peel and dice the potatoes. Clean and chop the lemongrass, a couple of bear’s garlic leaves and the onion. Prepare a deep pot and a non-sticking pan. Drizzle some olive oil in both of them and turn on the stove. The pan is for the chicken and the deep pot for the soup. Only when the oil gets warm, put the chopped onion, wild garlic, lemon grass and potatoes in the deep pot. Stir-fry for 3-5 minutes and then cover the potatoes with hot water. Bring it to boil, reduce the heat and cover. Let it cook for 10 minutes or until the potato is done.
In the mean time, prepare the chicken. Put the chicken in the pan with the shimmering olive oil. You will hear a nice sizzling. Don’t turn it for 3-5 minutes. When browned, turn it and sprinkle with some salt. Pan-fry it for ca 4 more minutes. When the chicken turns golden brown, remove the pan from the heat.
Ok, the potatoes are cooked. Remove the pot from the stove and purée everything using an immersion blender. When you reach a smooth texture, put it back on the stove. Add the coconut milk and the shredded coconut flakes. Season well and cook for a couple more minutes.
Serve it warm, topped with chicken and pesto. The soup will be thick and hold everything on top. I also added some red lentils and some cilantro leaves.
Enjoy!
