The Davidson Housing Coalition Souper Bowl's award-winning carrot ginger soup from Restaurant X. (Nikki Moore/DavidsonNews.net photos)
By NIKKI SAWYER MOORE
DavidsonNews.net
Winner of “Best Overall Soup” at Davidson Housing Coalition’s 2010 Souper Bowl Competition was the carrot ginger soup by Chris Phillips,co-owner and chef at by Restaurant X on South Main Street in Davidson.
Maybe I don’t give carrots enough credit, but I had a hard time believing a soup made from the lowly carrot had taken top honors against a field of worthy soups made by local restaurants. Frankly, I just didn’t think that the orange root vegetable had the star quality to pull it off.
So, it was with great doubt that I stopped by Restaurant X to try the soup for myself. Upon my arrival, co-owner and manager Christina Phillips served me a cup of the soup and left me alone with it. I’m glad she did. I needed some time with this soup; time to wrap my head around the fact that something this delicious could be made with carrots.
The soup, a thick puree, is bright orange with an enticing aroma. A spoonful, with its bits of fresh ginger and hints of curry, tastes exotic, but manages to still be surprisingly comforting. It’s something you can imagine eating at home on a rainy day.
A chalkboard at Restaurant X in Davidson features the award-winning carrot ginger soup as a daily special. (Nikki Moore/DavidsonNews.net photos)
Needless to say, the soup disappeared quickly and when Chef Phillips joined me at the table, I was practically jumping out of my seat to get the recipe. Chris Phillips, originally from Britain, created the carrot ginger soup for Restaurant X’s vegetarian clientele and it embodies his cooking philosophy of taking seemingly normal dishes and then adding a twist.
When I summon the nerve to ask for the recipe (if it were mine, I’m not sure I would share), he says yes and starts talking. I scramble to copy down every one of his somewhat ambiguous instructions, steps such as add a “generous amount of ginger” and a “dollop of honey.”
When pressed for more details, Chef Phillips estimates that for four servings of soup he would use a pound of carrots, half a yellow onion, and about a two-inch piece of ginger. He also emphasizes the importance of “investing an extra bit of money” in good vegetable stock and says that fresh ginger is a must (powdered ginger can’t be substituted). His final advice: when making the soup “you gotta have a bit of love and be into it.”
I kept this advice in mind the next day as I tried to recreate the soup at home. I used good vegetable stock (Pacific Natural Foods Organic Vegetable Broth, $3.65), dutifully peeled and chopped fresh ginger and I tasted often as I lovingly tried to coax humble carrots and ginger into Phillips’ jewel of a soup. While X still marks the spot of the original, and most delicious, version of the award-winning carrot ginger soup, I’m happy to report that Chef Phillips’ cryptic recipe allowed me to create a satisfactory version at home.
Carrot and Ginger Soup
Adapted from Chef Chris Phillips of Restaurant X
Serves 4
I made the soup twice at home trying to get an exact replica of Chef Phillips’ delicious soup. While I didn’t quite succeed, I came close with this recipe. You’ll notice that I added an additional 1/4 pound of carrots to Chef’s Phillips’ original estimate.
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 lb carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into dime-sized pieces*
1 tablespoon roughly chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
3 cups vegetable stock
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
In a medium pot, heat the olive oil and unsalted butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and onion to the pot and sauté for about 10 minutes until just soft. Add in the ginger, cilantro, curry powder, and cumin and stir for about five minutes, until the spices cover the vegetables and become fragrant.
Add vegetable stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and add the honey. Add honey judiciously as too much honey will make the soup overly sweet. Allow the soup to simmer merrily for about 45 minutes. You don’t want the soup to be boiling as too much water will evaporate, but you also don’t want it at too low of a simmer because the flavors won’t condense enough.
Remove the soup from the heat and allow it to cool slightly. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor; adding a little cream to each batch. Return the soup to the stove and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy.
*Use the edge of a spoon to rub off the skin on a piece of ginger.
Don’t have time to make the soup?
Quarts of the soup are available for purchase at Restaurant X, 408 South Main Street, Davidson, N.C. 28036. For more information, call 704-892-9369.
Nikki Sawyer Moore is a Charlotte-based food writer and chef. She is a 2003 Davidson College graduate, writes the food blog “Minced,”, and cooks and teaches cooking through her business Food Love, in Charlotte.
RELATED COVERAGE
Feb. 7, 2010, “Souper Bowl: Soup and smiles for a cause.” Read our coverage of the annual competition at Davidson College, with a gallery of photos of restaurant entrants and diners.
