EXQUISITE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP

[Kasia]

EXQUISITE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP

 

Jerusalem artichoke, also called sunchoke or earth apple, has been known in Poland since the first half of the XVIII century. It is a vegetable especially recommended for diabetics because it reduces the amount of blood glucose. Those who would like to lose weight should also reach for it. Jerusalem artichoke contains a lot of potassium so it reduces blood pressure, and inulin which reduces high cholesterol.

I have looked suspiciously at the packaging of Jerusalem artichoke a few times. Only the soup I ate in a Warsaw restaurant convinced me to buy it. I prepared my own version of cream of Jerusalem artichoke. I found the recipe at the Polish page zakochanewzupach. However, I used my own spices. I served this soup with mushroom crisps and parsley olive oil. It was really excellent.

Ingredients (for 4 people):
500g of Jerusalem artichoke
200g of potatoes
1 big onion
2 tablespoons of oil
500ml of vegetable stock
400ml of coconut milk
2 mushrooms
fistful of parsley
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and white pepper

Dice the onion and fry lightly in oil. Peel the Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes and cube them. Add the vegetables to the onion and fry for a while on a low heat. Don't brown them. Put everything into a pot, add the vegetable stock and boil until the vegetables are soft. Add the coconut milk, spice it up with the salt and white pepper and boil for a while. Blend the soup thoroughly. If it is too thick, add more vegetable stock. Cut the mushrooms into thin slices. Fry the slices in oil until they are gold and crunchy. Grind the parsley in a mortar with a pinch of salt. Add the olive oil while grinding constantly. Serve the hot soup with mushrooms crisps and parsley oil.

Enjoy your meal!

[gfweb]

Something about the age of sun chokes determines if they are edible. They contain a funny sugar, inulin, that we can't digest resulting in cramping and flatulence.  I forget whether it's letting them age a month...or refrigerating them or something. 

 

But,  be warned.  I have seen the intestinal consequences first hand. 

[Kerry Beal]

3 hours ago, gfweb said:

Something about the age of sun chokes determines if they are edible. They contain a funny sugar, inulin, that we can't digest resulting in cramping and flatulence.  I forget whether it's letting them age a month...or refrigerating them or something. 

 

But,  be warned.  I have seen the intestinal consequences first hand. 

Indeed - some of the worst pain I ever endured while an intern working in the ER. The ramp outside was not far enough away from other humans!

[gfweb]

I've prowled around google and can find nothing authoritative on how to tame the fartichoke. A couple places say cooking it might help...but cooked sunchoke is what caused me problems, so...

 

Apparently Harold McGhee in The Curious Cook discusses it.  Anyone have a copy?

[gfweb]

It turns out that I have a copy. 

McGee  does a nice historical analysis of the reports of GI distress and methods to combat it. 

Boiling extracts about 50% of the inulin. Long slow cooking does even better.  Roots harvested in the spring, that have spent all winter in cold soil, have lower inulin levels to begin with. 

 

So how to apply this? A 50% reduction of a lot of inulin is still way more inulin than my gut is used to processing. I think I'll reserve sun chokes as survival food  in the North American wilderness.  

 

[Kasia]

Dear @gfweb and @Kerry Beal we ate it and survived