Thai butternut squash soup, butternut soup with coconut milk

Lunds had a great price for two cans of coconut milk recently, so this happened. These are both recipes I'd clipped from Cooking Light years ago meaning to try during squash season. For more butternut squash soup inspiration, they have a gallery of ideas here.

It's always interesting to see how two fairly similar soups compare and what makes a winner and one less so. I prefer the second of these two butternut squash soups involving coconut milk, but they're both nice in their own way.

Thai butternut soup
From Cooking Light, March 2013

Ingredients
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2½ teaspoons red curry paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 cup broth
2 teaspoons brown sugar
4 cups butternut squash (peeled and cubed)
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
1½ teaspoons fish sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
Cilantro leaves for garnish
Lime wedge for serving (optional)

Method
Heat a large saucepan over medium low heat. Swirl in oil. Add onion and cook until softened. Add curry paste, garlic and ginger and cook briefly until garlic is aromatic.

Add broth, brown sugar, squash, coconut milk, fish sauce and salt. Bring to boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until squash is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Let soup cool slightly and then puree. Adjust seasonings and serve garnished with cilantro with lime wedges on the side. Serves 4.

Rating: Nice, fast enough, repeatable.Decent flavor although for some reason that flavor doesn't have as much depth as I might have expected.

 

Butternut soup with coconut milk
Adapted from Cooking Light, April 2013

Ingredients
1 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ tablespoon ground ginger
1 13.5-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk, plus 1 can of water
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
24 ounces cubed butternut squash (half of one 2-pound butternut squash, peeled and seeded)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Cilantro for optional garnish

Method
Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over low heat. Cook shallots until soft. Add garlic and ginger and cook a minute until fragrant. Add can of coconut milk. Refill empty can with water and add to pot along with salt, red pepper and squash. Cook at a simmer until squash is tender, about a half hour. Cool slightly and puree. Stir in lime juice and heat through. Garnish with cilantro if desired. Serves 4.

Rating: This is a warm soup in more ways than one, with just a nice background hint of heat. Good texture, fairly fast to fix. It's just nicely balanced and creamy without being heavy.