Sweet Potato Thai Soup

Many of my soup creations are honest attempts to clean out my refrigerator. This is the point of soup (other than I just love soup, it’s so good, even pea soup and peas in general disgust me). I came up with this Thai inspired soup because I wanted to make Chicken Coconut Curry (I’ll add that recipe soon). BUT I was afraid the folks I was cooking it for would not go for it (especially because I was serving it at 11am). I have a weird job. My Craft Service is different because I mainly (only) work for MK films and they work EVERDAY on a “sound stage.” On location Craft Service I would not cook as much I would assemble snacks for them mostly. At MK, I cook breakfast, a hot mid morning snack, often a baked good in the afternoon and an evening snack. I when I say snack I mean meal cut up in smaller portions, it’s a meal for 35 let’s not kid ourselves. So, I love Chicken Coconut Curry but I didn’t think they would so I made it into a soup. To my surprise and the crew’s credit they scraped the giant pot clean.

(Originally I invented this to serve 35 people at MKfilms, so you will want to try it and keep tasting it, until I can make it a few more times and perfect the smaller servings)

1 large yellow or white onion-thinly sliced in half moons
2 cloves garlic-minced
1-2 large sweet potatoes-peeled and small diced
1 can petite-diced tomatoes with juice
1 can straw mushrooms-drained and rinsed
1 can bamboo shoots-drained and rinsed (chop smaller if you like)
1 can baby corn-drained and rinsed (chop smaller if you like)
2-3 cans low sodium chicken broth or veggie broth
1-2 cans lite coconut milk
1 teaspoon red curry paste
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 chopped green onions
1 cup bean sprouts (washed)
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Cook sliced onion and garlic in a little olive or vegetable oil. If you have peanut or sesame add a few drops of that too. Sauté until soft, add brown sugar and cook another minute. Add soy sauce, potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and corn; turn up heat to medium high. Add chicken broth, bring to a boil then reduce to a bubbling simmer, cover and cook until potatoes are tender. In another pot bring coconut milk and curry paste to a simmer for a few minutes (make sure curry paste is completely dissolved you don’t want any chunks, you can whisk it or use or fork). Taste test the curry/coconut milk because curry paste can be very spicy, add more if you like. Add warm coconut milk mixture to the vegetables and broth. Just before serving add chopped green onions, bean sprouts and cilantro.Serve as a soup or over hot Brown or Jasmine rice. You can also add left over cooked chicken just at the end for a heartier meat dish.