Thai-Spiced Watermelon Soup with Crabmeat

Name: Thai-Spiced Watermelon Soup with Crabmeat
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 59 milliliters finely chopped fresh cilantro; 2 Tbsps finely chopped peeled fresh ginger; 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic; 1 fresh lemongrass stalk; 2 Tbsps fresh lime juice, or to taste; 4 servings Accompaniment: lime wedges; 473 milliliters 10 oz jumbo lump crabmeat , picked over; 2 Tbsps mild olive oil; 0 teaspoons salt, or to taste; 1 small hot green chile such as Thai or serrano, finely chopped (including seeds), or to taste; 3 Tbsps finely chopped shallot; 1 liters coarsely chopped seeded watermelon (from a 4-lb piece, rind discarded)

Thai-Spiced Watermelon Soup with Crabmeat is It can be enjoyed any time, but it is especially good for Summer. Head to the store and pick up mild olive oil, ginger, garlic, and a few other things to make it today. To use up the lime wedges you could follow this main course with the Frozen Key Lime Pie as a dessert. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes around 45 minutes.

Instructions

Purée watermelon in a blender until smooth and transfer to a bowl. (Don't wash blender.)

Ingredients you will need

Watermelon

Equipment you will use

Blender

Bowl

Discard 1 or 2 outer leaves of lemongrass and trim root end. Thinly slice lower 5 to 6 inches of stalk and then mince, discarding remainder.

Ingredients you will need

Lemon Grass

Ground Meat

Cook lemongrass, shallot, ginger, and garlic in oil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until aromatics are pale golden, about 5 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Lemon Grass

Shallot

Garlic

Ginger

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Sauce Pan

Add about one third of watermelon purée and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, 5 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Watermelon

Remove watermelon mixture from heat, then transfer to blender along with chile, lime juice, and salt and blend until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids).

Ingredients you will need

Lime Juice

Watermelon

Chili Pepper

Salt

Equipment you will use

Blender

Add remaining watermelon purée and blend briefly. Season soup with more chile, lime juice, and salt if desired, blending if necessary.

Ingredients you will need

Lime Juice

Watermelon

Chili Pepper

Salt

Soup

Pour soup through a sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding any solids. Chill soup, uncovered, about 2 hours if serving cold, or reheat in cleaned saucepan.

Ingredients you will need

Soup

Equipment you will use

Sauce Pan

Sieve

Bowl

Toss crabmeat with cilantro, oil, and salt.

Ingredients you will need

Cilantro

Crabmeat

Salt

Cooking Oil

Divide crab among 4 soup plates, mounding in center, and pour chilled or hot soup around it.

Ingredients you will need

Crab

Soup

• Soup can be made 1 day ahead and chilled. Cover after 2 hours of chilling. • Crabmeat can be picked over 1 day ahead and crab mixture can be prepared 1 hour before serving. Chill, covered.*Available at Asian markets and some supermarkets.

Ingredients you will need

Crab

Soup