Butternut Squash and Tea Soup

This recipe is from the cookbook Season. It’s very light - something that us in the West aren’t used to. It’s a great palette cleanser and required some new pantry ingredients. I’ve never had raw butternut squash but when it’s thinly sliced like this it’s slightly sweet and crunchy.

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash

4 cups water

12 black peppercorns

4 garlic cloves, peeled

One 2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

2 star anise pods

4 dried shiitake mushrooms

2 tsp Lapsang Souchong tea leaves

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

What To Do

Trim ends of butternut squash. Halve lengthwise and remove the seeds. Peel the skin and, using peeler, cut flesh lengthwise into thin ribbons. Put ribbons into bowl of ice water until ready to use.

Combine the 4 cups water, peppercorns, garlic, ginger, star anise, and shiitakes in medium stockpot or Dutch oven. Bring to rolling boil over medium-high heat. Turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Put the tea leaves in a tea infuser or a muslin spice bag and add to the pot. Increase the heat to high and boil for 30 seconds. Remove and discard the tea leaves.

Place a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain the broth, discarding the solids. Return the broth to the stockpot and add the soy sauce, lemon juice, and salt. Taste and adjusting the seasoning, if encessary. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Just before serving, remove the squash ribbons from the ice water and dry with paper towels, and transfer to warm broth. Stir in the oil, garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, and serve.