Soup season is here! Soup season is here!
This creamy Thai corn chowder is the perfect way to bridge the gap between summer and fall. It has a fresh, almost floral flavor that highlights the last of summer’s sweet corn, and a thick velvety texture that’s super cozy and luxurious. I love it! And I love it even more knowing that it can be on the table in just about a half an hour (and that 20 minutes of that it just simmering the broth!)
I’ve been participating in #SundaySupper for a few months now and I absolutely love it. Now that I’ve learned the ropes, I decided to join in the other part of the movement: #WeekdaySupper.
Just like it sounds, #WeekdaySupper is all about quick, easy meals that inspire people to venture into the kitchen during the week. Finding that inspiration (and energy!) is definitely something that I struggle with personally. I love to cook, but I still can’t muster up the energy to make dinner after work. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for people who don’t like to cook. I’d probably end up eating take out every night.
This soup though? It’s kind of hard to come up with an excuse not to make it. It’s one of the easiest things I’ve made in a while, but it definitely doesn’t taste it.
You start by making a quick broth out of corn cobs. If that sounds complicated, don’t worry – it couldn’t be easier and the results are well worth it. The process extracts every bit of flavor from the corn cobs and gives the soup its intense corn flavor.
The broth and potato gets combined with coconut milk, fresh corn and red curry paste, then whipped up in the blender. The coconut thickens up like whipped cream and gives this soup an amazing texture. Then you just throw in the remaining corn and some shrimp.
That’s all there is to it!
(I like to bake up some tater tots while the soup simmers. I don’t know why, but they go really, really well together.)
Thai Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 3 ears corn on the cob
- 6 cup water
- 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
- 1 can (15oz) light coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
- 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro
- 1/2 pound medium shrimp
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 lime, juiced
- Optional: thinly sliced jalapeno, for garnish
Instructions
- Cut the corn kernels away from the cob. Add the cobs, 6 cups of water, and the diced potato to a soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Discard the cobs.
- Stir in coconut milk, red curry paste, and half of the reserved corn. Simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender or food processor and process into a smooth puree.
- Return the puree to the pot. Add the remaining corn, cilantro, and shrimp. Simmer until shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in fish sauce and lime juice. Garnish with jalapeno slices, if desired.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 217Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 120mgSodium 1152mgCarbohydrates 26gFiber 3gSugar 5gProtein 17g
Andrea says
Where is the actual recipe? this is just an ingredient list. How do you make the corn stock?
Lauren Keating says
I just fixed it – the directions got hidden somehow
Brian says
I’m confused (much like the first comment) as to what the actual recipe is. I see the ingredient list, but no instructions. The description talks about “20 minutes of that it just simmering the broth”, but I don’t see any instructions as to what to do. Please help.
Kirk says
Where’s the recipe?
Lucinda says
i’m eager to make this soup, but I’m thinking of substituting a white potato with a sweet potato. Has anybody done that? And because it’s not corn season, will use frozen corn and chicken broth. Lemon grass and some sambal oelek I think would kick up the flavors a notch.
Lucinda says
I’m thinking of substituting a white potato with a sweet potato. Has anybody tried that?
Mike says
Good base flavor but a bit watery for us. I also added a bit of thai chile, some lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves, and used chicken instead of shrimp. Next time I will use less water, more coconut milk, more corn ,more potato, more chile.
Amy P says
I agree with Mike. I found it to be too thin. I would use more potato and full fat coconut milk (I used half full and half lite). I doubled the amount of red curry and also added roasted chili paste, plus a little bit of salt. Also, the recipe says to add the shrimp at the same time as 2nd half of the corn (after pureeing the soup). I found the corn to be undercooked and the shrimp to be overcooked. I would not add the shrimp until after simmering the soup with the added corn for at least 10 minutes first. I will def try again!
Catherine says
I made this last night with a few adaptations: I used frozen corn kernels as a shortcut, substituting 1.5 cups for the 3 cobs of corn. I also like a thicker, richer chowder, so I reduced the water to 4 cups and it was still way too thin. I also sauteed the shrimp separately in coconut oil and added them to the soup when I served it. Next time, I’ll try 2-3 cups of water (or some kind of broth), a larger potato (or two small ones) and will double the amount of Thai red curry for a little more flavor and kick!
Lauren @ HealthyDelish says
I’m sorry that yours was so thin, when I made it, it was definitely really really rich and thick (almost to thick!). Did you by any change skip the blending step? The blended potato acts as a thickener and blending the coconut whips it up so it gets thick like whipped cream. If you skipped that step, it would definitely be a much thinner soup.
The only other thing I can think is that a lot of water boils off when you simmer the corn cobs to make the corn broth, so if you skipped that step (since you used frozen corn) you might have needed to cook the soup longer.