Dinner for a very dear friend’s birthday required a bit of thought. I wanted to cook her favourites but with a twist.
She loves a corn curry I’ve been making for years but I didn’t want to serve a curry meal and so decided to convert the curry idea into a soup for entrée and make it a bit luxe for the celebration by garnishing with crayfish tails.
I served it hot given that we’re in mid winter here in Sydney but it would be equally as delicious served chilled in summer.
The following evening we had leftovers for dinner and I garnished the soup with crispy fried speck lardons. It was delicious too and far more economical.
I dry roasted the coriander and cumin seeds and placed them in a spice bag to simmer along with the corn so as to have their flavour, not wanting ground spices to spoil the beautiful colour of the corn soup.
So here’s the recipe. Very quick and simple, luxed or not.
Rosie
WARM OR CHILLED CORN SOUP WITH CRAYFISH TAILS
Serves 6
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
8 cobs organic sweet corn
50 gm unsalted butter
1 brown onion, finely sliced
1 birds eye chilli, finely sliced seeds and all
150 gm full fat yoghurt
2 tablespoons raw sugar
water to cover
100 gm crème fraiche
2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste
Salt to taste
3 crayfish or small lobster tails
1 long red chilli, seeded and finely sliced to garnish
Coriander leaves to garnish
1 tablespoon olive oil
Dry roast the coriander seeds until fragrant. Repeat with the cumin seeds. Tie together in a piece of muslin or similar or place in a spice bag.
Using a sharp knife, remove the corn kernels from the cobs.
Saute the onions and chilli in the butter until soft but not coloured. Add the corn kernels and toss to combine. Add the yoghurt, the roasted spices and raw sugar and enough water to just cover the corn.
Simmer until the corn is tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Add the crème fraiche and lime juice.
Place in a blender and blend until very smooth. Pass through a sieve. Season to taste and add more lime juice if required.
Refrigerate for two hours if serving chilled.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the crayfish or lobster tails and simmer for 5-8 minutes depending on size. Remove from the pot and when cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the shells and roughly chop.
If serving the soup hot, reheat and ladle into warmed bowls. If serving chilled, remove from the fridge and ladle into cold bowls. Place some chopped crayfish in the centre and garnish with the chopped chilli and coriander leaves. Finish off with a drizzle of olive oil.
TIP: This soup is equally as delicious but not as decadent when topped with crispy fried speck, pancetta or bacon lardons instead of the crayfish or lobster.