Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

Perhaps winter has passed by, but the night is still cool enough for some smooth soup. And with the Jerusalem Artichoke available at my local grocer, there is no better excuse…

Jesuralem artichoke, depiste its name, has no relation to either Jerusalem or the normal globe artichoke. It is actually a tube vegetable originated from North Africa. In terms of culinary usage, this vegetable can be eaten raw or cooked. I personally love it in puree form to accompany meat, or in simple soup like what I have cooked.

Cooking Jerusalem artichoke soup is quite simple. You don’t need to peel the skin at all, since it has a lot of flavours. At the end of cooking time, when the vegetables are tender, simply process it in a food processor then pass through a sieve. The end result is something smooth, lightly sweet and satisfying.

Another tip for cooking this special vegetable. Some people may find Jerusalem artichoke indigestive. To prevent this, add in a pinch of asafoetida during the first stage of cooking (i.e. when you soften onion/leek). Don’t worry, the fragrance of asafoetida will disappear during cooking proces and won’t overwhelm the soup at all.

I don’t really have a specific recipe for this soup… But you can view two beautiful and reliable recipes for similar soup here and here.

I am submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is hosted by Katerina from Daily Unadventures in Cooking. You can view more information about WHB from the founder, Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen.

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Jerusalem Artichoke

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