Chilled Lemongrass and Coriander Vichyssoise
Yield: 4 servings
Preparation time is 1 hour 30 minutes
Preparation is medium
Ingredients
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 ounces butter (50 grams)
- 2 ounces fresh coriander leaves (50 grams)
- 10 ounces new potatoes, scraped and diced (275 grams)
- 1 ½ pints stock, see recipe below (850 millilitres)
- 5 fluid ounces milk (150 millilitres)
- 4 thick stems lemon grass
- 4 scallions, finely chopped
- salt and pepper
- thin lemon slices
Directions
- Remove the coriander leaves from the stalks and set the stalks aside. With the lemon grass, trim the root and the tough top. Remove the outer leaves and chop the remaining lemon grass finely. Do the same with the scallions. Gather up all the trimmings from the lemon grass, scallions and the coriander stalks and put them into a large pot with 850 millilitres of water to simmer for 30 minutes to make a stock.
- To make the soup, melt the butter and add the chopped onions, lemon grass and potatoes. Keep the heat low to allowed the vegetables to sweat gently. Keep them covered for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, drain the stock that you have made before from the lemon grass, coriander and scallion cuttings and discard the debris. Add the stock to the onions and potatoes, then add the milk and the majority of the coriander leaves (keep some aside for decoration). Season and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Pass the soup through a food processor and then strain it. Put aside to cool and then into the fridge to chill thoroughly. Serve with a cube of ice in the centre of each bowl and the remainder of the coriander leaves on top. You can even float a cleaned lemon grass stem in each bowl like a large stirrer.