Swedish Strawberry Mint Soup

"According to Marcus Samuelsson, this is traditionally made in Sweden in June when the wild strawberries (which heretofore I only associated with Ingmar Bergman) are available. But Marcus says it's delicious with cultivated strawberries, or you can substitute other berries or a combination thereof. Cooking time includes three hours of cooling/chilling time."
 
Download
photo by justcallmetoni photo by justcallmetoni
photo by justcallmetoni
photo by twissis photo by twissis
Ready In:
3hrs 25mins
Ingredients:
7
Serves:
6-8
Advertisement

ingredients

  • 3 pints strawberries, washed and hulled
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed (from about 4 oranges)
  • 6 inches piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 4 -5 stalks lemongrass (tough outer leaves removed, tender inner stalks lightly smashed and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds)
  • 2 cups mint, fresh, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup sugar
Advertisement

directions

  • Set aside 1/2 pint of the strawberries and thinly slice the rest.
  • Place the sliced strawberries in a large saucepan and add the water, orange juice, ginger, lemongrass, mint and sugar, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
  • Reduce the heat to low and simmer for five minutes.
  • Remove from heat and set aside to steep for an hour.
  • After steeping, strain the strawberry mixture through a fine sieve, mashing the strawberries to get the maximum strained liquid.
  • Discard the solids.
  • Cover and refrigerate the liquid--your strawberry soup--until well chilled--at least two hours.
  • Meanwhile, cut the reserved 1/2 pint of strawberries into 1/4" dice, place in a small bowl, cover and refrigerate.
  • When ready to serve, place a small mound of diced strawberries in the center of each shallow soup plate or bowl, pour the chilled soup around the berries and serve.
  • Note 1: You can, if you wish, serve this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
  • Note 2: You can combine 1/2 cup of the soup with 1/2 cup of champagne for a lovely summer cocktail or with 1/2 cup of sparkling water for a non-alcoholic version.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. Made this for a special dinner and it got rave reviews. We all loved it! I thought there might be too much ginger for my taste but it was perfect. I used lemon balm instead of verbena because that is what I had. We had it with ice cream but I would not recommend that...it was best all by itself. I will make this again. So easy!
     
  2. Wonderful, loved it!!!
     
  3. I drank mine with some champagne as suggested. Such a nice change from the more commonplace mimosa. I loved the way the ginger and lemongrass gave this a more complex and sophisticated flavor to one of my favorite fruits.
     
  4. I made this for ZWT II just as written, but halved the recipe & used dry mint because I can't get fresh. I liked it as it was, but knew my DH would give me 1 of his "Isn't this a bit odd?" looks, so I combined his w/whipped cream & froze it into a creamy strawberry slush. He adored it! Men! They're just so predictable! This is a versatile recipe & fun to make. Thx for posting.
     
Advertisement

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>I have always loved to cook. When I was little, I cooked with my Grandmother who had endless patience and extraordinary skill as a baker. And I cooked with my Mother, who had a set repertoire, but taught me many basics. Then I spent a summer with a French cousin who opened up a whole new world of cooking. And I grew up in New York City, which meant that I was surrounded by all varieties of wonderful food, from great bagels and white fish to all the wonders of Chinatown and Little Italy, from German to Spanish to Mexican to Puerto Rican to Cuban, not to mention Cuban-Chinese. And my parents loved good food, so I grew up eating things like roasted peppers, anchovies, cheeses, charcuterie, as well as burgers and the like. In my own cooking I try to use organics as much as possible; I never use canned soup or cake mix and, other than a cheese steak if I'm in Philly or pizza by the slice in New York, I don't eat fast food. So, while I think I eat and cook just about everything, I do have friends who think I'm picky--just because the only thing I've ever had from McDonald's is a diet Coke (and maybe a frie or two). I have collected literally hundreds of recipes, clipped from the Times or magazines, copied down from friends, cajoled out of restaurant chefs. Little by little, I am pulling out the ones I've made and loved and posting them here. Maybe someday, every drawer in my apartment won't crammed with recipes. (Of course, I'll always have those shelves crammed with cookbooks.) I'm still amazed and delighted by the friendliness and the incredible knowledge of the people here. 'Zaar has been a wonderful discovery for me.</p>
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes