Orange and carrot soup with ginger, curry and vanilla

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg carrot(s), peeled and roughly chopped
• 5 potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 onion(s)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 piece(s) ginger root
• 1 chili pepper(s)
• 1 tsp curry paste, yellow
• 1 vanilla pod(s)
• 1 small can of coconut milk
• Soy sauce
• 1 orange(s)
• salt and pepper
• Sugar
• Sour cream, or creme fraîche
• Parsley, flat, or fresh coriander

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Dice the onions and sauté in oil until translucent. Roughly chop the garlic, ginger (amount to taste), and chili pepper and add to the onions. Add the curry paste and sauté. Deglaze with soy sauce and add the coconut milk. Peel the orange zest with a vegetable peeler, squeeze out the juice, and add both to the pot. Scrape out the vanilla pod. Add the seeds and peel to the soup. Then add the potatoes and carrots to the soup, fill with water until everything is covered, and simmer for about 25 minutes (longer if needed). Remove the vanilla pod and orange zest and puree the soup in a blender or with a hand blender and strain. Add more water if necessary and bring to the desired consistency. You can also add a little cream and whip the soup lightly with a hand blender. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and sugar. Serve in a large soup bowl with a generous dollop of sour cream in the center. Sprinkle the parsley loosely over the top. You’ll have to experiment a bit with the spice, ginger, orange, and vanilla. But once you get the right balance, the soup is amazing. We serve it with a grain baguette (root bread?) and small satay-like skewers of chicken breast (marinated in soy sauce and sambal oelek) and scampi, which are lightly and juicyly fried in butter.