Joke’s Spicy Asian Tomato Soup

 Les Sarilles

I love bringing back memories of wonderful holidays and a treasured recipe is a great reminder. Les Sarilles is just 10 minutes from Cluny and with amazing views over the rolling countryside of Southern Burgundy in France.

Our Dutch hosts, Jan and Yoke Boekhoven, are a very interesting couple who have travelled all over the world and collected some wonderful recipes. Joke kindly sent me her cherished recipe for Asian Tomato Soup. She suggests making the soup one day ahead to let the flavours infuse.

 For 4 servings:

1 kilo fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped

0.5 ltr water

2 parts of chicken stock

30g fresh ginger

30g sugar

2 onions

2 cloves of garlic

1 or two small tins of tomato puree

3 tbsps of ginger sirop (We used 3 pieces of preserved stem ginger and 2 tbsps of the syrup)

Cumin, paprika powder, cardamom, pepper and anise to your taste.  (We crushed cumin seed, cardamom pods, black peppercorns and half a piece of star anise in a pestle and mortar)

Peel the tomatoes by slightly heating them in water, but don’t boil them. Bring the water to the boil and simmer the tomatoes, onions and the chicken stock for 20 minutes. Add the garlic and fresh ginger in the last five minutes. Then add the tomato puree. Use a blender/liquidiser to mix all ingredients to a smooth soup. Add the sugar and spices to your taste. The following day, push the soup through a sieve and, if necessary, add extra spices, sugar and ginger sirop.

In any language this is a fantastic recipe so Selamat makan! Bon appétit! Enjoy!