Senegalese Chicken and Peanut Soup

Kirstin in the Couv's Note:

This is an award winning soup recipe. The soup should be silky and smooth but not thick; it should be spicy, but not too hot; it should have a sharpness of tomato and lemon, but not be sour; it should taste of peanuts, but not of peanut butter. It freezes beautifully. Note - I just adopted this one -- it was originally posted by my friend Mean Chef -- the intro is perfect and is exactly what you should be tasting in the final product! :-)

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup curry powder
• 1 tablespoon yellow curry paste
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 quart diced tomatoes with juice
• 4 cups cooked chicken, diced (I used one whole cooked chicken)
• 3/4 teaspoon sambal oelek chili paste (red chile paste)
• 1 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• lemon juice, to taste (I used the juice of 1 small lemon)

Directions:

1. Saute onion, garlic and cayenne in oil until onion is translucent.
2. Stir in curry powder and curry paste; saute 1 minute.
3. Add chicken stock and tomatoes in juice; bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add cooked chicken and sambal; simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Whisk in peanut butter a little at a time until incorporated; add coconut milk and stir to incorporate.
6. Turn soup to low and add cilantro and lemon juice to brighten the taste; check seasoning.

Reviews

[Kristina & Enno]

This truly is a five star soup. I'm not exaggerating when I say this - this is the Best Soup I've Ever Had. And I'm utterly flabbergasted that something I made has earned this title. I made my second batch yesterday and a good friend - a friend who knows me and thinks well of me - looked at me cockeyed when I tried to assure him that, yes, I made it and hadn't picked it up from a restaurant. With every subsequent bite he took - I'm pretty sure I heard him mumbling: Liar.

[Judikins]

As everyone else has reported--FANTASTIC!! My 12 lady friends ALL thought it was excellent (even the picky one:) as I served it for a luncheon/card get together. Chickens were on sale so I bought two, one for the freezer, cooked the other Sunday in the Crockpot and made the soup yesterday based on others' reviews saying it was better the day following. In the process of trying to find all the ingredients (particularly the yellow curry paste and the sambal oelek chili paste), I luckily found a new Asian SUPERmarket in Tucson which not only had exactly what I wanted but SO much more. I made a batch and a half which was more than adequate for 12 (even had some left over). I cut down on the cayenne a bit in consideration for some of the ladies and as they said, "It's spicy but not really hot--just has a nice bite." I encourage all you are debating to take the plunge. You won't be sorry you did. It's an exciting change from all the usual soups we ge caught up in making routinely. Thank you so much for posting; this will be made often!!

[jensunnyside]

Excellent soup. Follow the recipe, and you can't go wrong.