Recipe: Chayote Soup!

I finally got around to making another batch of my currently favourite soup! One of the things I love most about this soup is that it's really thick and creamy but with little fat and far fewer calories than comparably types. Depending on how you season the soup, it can sometimes taste like KFC gravy! You need to blend it all in the end, so make sure you have a blender or food processor available.

You can't usually get chayotes at typical grocery stores. I suggest going to more specialized ones. I've found them at Asia Food Mart, in London, Ontario for 50 - 69 cents per chayote. The recipe below allegedly makes 4 servings, but for us it's more like 2.

So you will need:

Onion

Red Pepper

Garlic

Coriander

2 Chayotes

Pepper

Water

Chicken Stock

Butter (or oil)

Generally, I'm not going to tell you how much of each to use because that's up to you! Just look at the pictures for guidance. :)

Step 1:

Put about 2tbsp of butter in a large pan. You can probably make due with one but I like my butter. Turn the burner on to medium-high and chop the onion, garlic and red pepper while the butter melts. Then toss it in the pan and let it cook for about 3 minutes.

Step 2:

During this time chop up the Chayote. I tend to remove the seeds. Some people also remove the skin but I haven't noticed a difference and just leave it on.

When done, toss in the chayote and shake up the pan. Let it cook for about 4-5 minutes still on medium-high heat.

Step 3:

While the veggies are cooking, mix 2 cups of water with 2tbsp of dry chicken broth. Chop as much coriander and you want and add it. I find the more you add, the more it tastes like KFC gravy. If you want to use it as gravy just cut down the water to make it thicker. Add pepper to taste. Again the more pepper, the more like KFC gravy. If you want to make it like gravy just seriously over-season it.

Turn the burner down to low and add the chicken broth mix and coriander. Now cover with a lid and let the entire thing simmer for about 30 minutes. You don't even need to stir it! Remember the lid, without it you won't have enough water to make soup in the end.

Step 4:

Turn off the burner and let everything cool for about 5-10 minutes (so you don't get burnt and your glassware can take the temperature). Now you have to put it all in a blender. I find moving stuff from a pan to blender to be incredibly difficult. I tend to get something like a spaghetti scoop to get out the solids first. Then over a sink a pour in the liquids. It usually dribbles a bit. As a general rule the liquid should be level with the top of the veggies.

Blend until smooth and your done. Many people prefer to chill chayote soup in the fridge, but I like it just as much warm. It's completely up to you. I also tend to end up with a brown coloured soup instead of the usually green. I'm not sure if it has to due with the green skin turning brown or a tendency to slightly overcook the entire thing. Maybe because I use fresh red pepper instead of red pepper flakes?

Enjoy!

Chayote

The Chayote (Sechium edule) is a gourd native to Mesoamerica but grown world-wide. I actually came across my first plant in Vancouver. Many houses grow them on trellises in their front yards. The root stalk is borderline hardy there depending on the severity of the winter, so it's probably a tender perennial in zone 7. At the time, I had no idea what the plant was. I just seemed like another random gourd. However, after getting back to London, Ontario I discovered them for sale at Asia Food Mart.

I asked someone working there about the chayotes and she suggested I make them into a soup. The soup was absolutely delicious! I'll be sure to post the recipe next time I make it (probably later this week). I loved it so much that I decided to plant some seeds. Each Chayote comes with a large edible seed in the centre. In many cases the vine has already started growing out of the fruit when you purchase it.

Now they normally tell you to plant the fruit whole, but I really like the soup. I basically cut about 1cm around one seed and planted another one bare. The bare one never sprouted but the one with fruit has turned into a little vine. Growth has been slow to start but I expect it to speed up. I'm in zone 6a so I'm hoping if I cover it up for the winter the roots will survive. It's probably to late to expect any fruit this year.

I highly recommend you try Chayote if you can find one. You can even eat it raw and chop it for salads. It almost tastes like a less intense pear/apple cross with a similar texture. I'm thinking the summers here may be a bit too warm (bordering on 30C during the day). There's only one way to find out. Hopefully by this time next year I'll have baby Chayotes covering a vigourous vine!