I’ve started becoming rather fiendish for spicy foods in the past few years, and now it’s starting to infiltrate my soup repertoire. But doesn’t a bowl of savory broth spiked with bird’s eye chilies and minced ginger sound perfect for a chilly evening? Here are six soups that are sure perk up our taste buds and warm us to our toes.
The irony is that most of these soups come from warm-weather climates where the spiciness is meant to help you deal with the heat. No matter! A spicy soup is welcome in my kitchen no matter the season.
• Penang Assam Laksa from Rasa Malaysia - This Malaysian fish soup gets its tang from a hefty dollop of tamarind paste.
• Hot and Sour Soup from Gourmet - White pepper gives this classic Chinese soup a heat that's more like a slow burn than a spicy flame.
• West African Peanut Soup from the Gracious Bowl - Sweet potatoes, carrots, ginger, and chili peppers round out this West African staple.
• Doro Wot from Saveur - Hailing from Ethiopia, this spicy chicken stew is a good one to let simmer on the back burner all afternoon.
• Gujarati Mango Stew from Leite’s Culinaria - Madhur Jaffrey recommends the ripest mangoes you can find for this hot-sour Indian soup.
• Locro de Papa from Laylita’s Recipes - While Ecuador is usually given ownership of this milky potato and cheese soup, various iterations can be found throughout South America.
What other spicy soups do you love?
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I have two spicy soups that I make frequently. Rick Bayless's black bean chorizo soup with adobo peppers, and a curried lentil and ginger soup. Both are hot and spicy, definitely warm you up from the insides out!
http://thesepeasarehollow.blogspot.com/2010/02/two-soups-for-cozy-weekend.html
Locro de papas isn't usually spicy in and of itself, but the aji chili sauce that is on every Ecuadorean table will kick your culo. Is it lunchtime yet?
being korean, the two spicy soups i love the most are soft tofu soup and yookkaejang (spicy shredded beef soup with scallions/sprouts/glass noodles)
I bought some pumpkins for a bargain at a farmer's market this week, I'll be making this soup this weekend:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/pumpkin-rice-laksa-soup
(it's fantastic)
I love soups! With spicy broths! My favorites are pho (well, it's spicy once you put the sriracha sauce in) and tom yum soup. Also the Korean soondubu (there's one with kkaennip seeds that I love). I'm also a fan of the spicy smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón picante) in my soups.
Funny enough, I just joined a little food blog/cooking group and our assignment this month was to cook Laksa! I'd never heard of it before - but holy smokes, its delicious! (I turned mine into a curried version of Moules Frites and it was awesome).
I love Korean spicy tofu soup/stew - it's definitely my winter comfort food.
Tonight, though, I made a spicy hominy and bean soup (I won't call it pozole because it's vegetarian) that's going on my regular rotation...
i'm a big fan of hot and sour soups, chinese, thai... but something that hits the same note for me is caldo verde, a soup from portugal.
we use the recipe from the joy of cooking, with extra-hot chorizo and swiss chard for the greens.
a shot of lemon when serving and maybe a dash of tabasco... mmmm!
Thai Tom Yum can be glorious and really tasty if done well, and recently I've been making tons of a Cannolini Bean and Chorizo soup which was in the Times newspaper a few weeks ago. It's really easy to make from pantry ingredients and super tasty.