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red pepper thai soup

post #1 of 7
8/30/08 at 11:09pm
Thread Starter 
I am looking for ideas for a creamy red pepper thai soup.

Something that:
allows for the use of cream in stead of coconut milk
the red peppers don't have to be roasted
has a good kick to it
uses a standard chicken stock base & is thickened with a roux
tried and true basics vs wild and weird flavours

any suggestions
doodle
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post #2 of 7
8/31/08 at 9:04am
It sounds like you're taking most of the thai out of it but want a cream of red pepper soup spiced with garlic, galangal and lemon grass and plenty of heat.

And you want to skip the roasting which will tend to put free floating bits of skin in your cream of soup.


My suggestions:

use a jar or roasted red peppers. That solves your roasting problem.

Pick a cream of red pepper soup recipe that sounds good to you. Start here if you like recipe cream of red pepper soup - Google Search

Construct a standard cream of red pepper soup adding the thai aromatics of garlic, galangal and lemon grass. Make the roux with the aromatics at the end of their cooking. Puree it (the lemon grass and galangal probably won't puree well so consider removing them).

Garnish with thin slices of hot red peppers, a squeeze of lime juice and perhaps some mint or cilantro or thai basil or a combination.

Rather than a roux, I'd consider thickening it with pureed rice.

Phil
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post #3 of 7
9/1/08 at 2:49pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, thanks Phil, I guess now that you mention it I simply want a creamy red pepper soup with Thai flavours and heat.
See here is my problem. The chef/caterer that I was paying to make this for my food store started to cut corners with taste and consistency but kept charging me the full rate, so he is no longer in the picture. BUT, the items that I had him make were some of our biggest sellers until customers started to complain/inform me the quality had deteriorated. Some recipes were mine & I just subcontracted to him. The soup however was his recipe so now I am trying to duplicate it as best I can so that customers will not have to deal with a big change in one of their favourite items.
This is what I have done for my first attempt. There are a few items I need to increase/adjust in amounts but it's a holiday & I have no way to buy them today. LOL That is why I have not given measurements just my method for your comment.

I made my own chicken stock as the soup base. --next time instead of using just bay leaves I might also use one Kafir lime leaf when it will only be used for this soup.
fresh red pepper - fine diced
diced onion & garlic
butter to saute & then flour to make a roux
then added my chicken stock plus some water plus some tomato sauce & a bit of chopped cilantro & fresh lime juice
brought to a boil, simmered and then used the hand emulsifier to puree
turned off the heat and added whip cream (that's what I had on hand-- next time I'll used half & half) & Cock Brand sweet (& spicy) chilli sauce

I know he liked to use bottled flavourings and there was a sweetness to his soup so I am sure he used this type of product for the heat. It's a pure deck with only sugar, water, red chilli, garlic, a touch of corn starch and acetic acid.

I like your idea to thicken with pured rice, ( & that would then make it OK for Celiacs) but because I am trying to duplicate a "taste" I won't use it right now.
If I say so myself, it turned out pretty good (better than my tough re-heated roast beef disaster) but I will have a few regulars come in & give it a try to get their feedback. They only know that the chef cannot make it any longer & I am going to do my best to give them something they will enjoy just as much.
Taste and consistency go hand in hand in my opinion and I am a little ( OK I am a lot) out of my element when it comes to making larger batches of foods. It's one thing to judge or guess amounts for home use but it will be a lot easier once I learn the ratios for my needs. :bounce: For example how much butter & flour I need to make the correct roux amount to thicken the liquid I have to the right consistency for the end result I want. I probably didn't make any sense but I am sure you get my drift.

I hope I did not cross any compliance boundries with my insite to my problem but if I did please edit accordingly.
I look forward to any thoughts on what I have done.
thanks, doodle
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post #4 of 7
9/1/08 at 3:00pm
Break your recipes down into weights. It makes it easier to multiply up then. I use a scale in the kitchen quite a bit for baking etc.
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post #5 of 7
9/1/08 at 3:16pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks MaryB. Yes, I never understood why all chefs used weights of ingredients until I started this venture. I now insist on everyone weighing everything as I accumulate my recipes. I just haven't done enough of some things to know where to start.:o
doodle
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post #6 of 7
9/1/08 at 9:08pm
Just a quick question to clarify something for me - I'm assuming that by 'red pepper' you are referring to sweet red bell peppers, and not some spicy variety of red chile. Is this correct? This topic has me thinking about a couple of ideas I might try in the near future.

mjb.
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post #7 of 7
9/1/08 at 10:18pm
Thread Starter 
yes mjb I meant sweet red bell peppers -- they puree just fine if I start with a fine dice first and I actually prefer their fresh to roasted flavour in this particular soup

there is enough spicy chilli pepper in the bottled sauce to do the job

be sure to let me know if what you're thinking works

doodle
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