Yellow Bell Pepper and Lemongrass Soup

This recipe from Martin Kušej reminds the Austrian theatre director of his time in Paris, where he was inspired by the best food hotspots. The...

Ingredients

• 6 yellow bell peppers, deseeded
• 100 g butter
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 lemongrass stalks, very finely chopped
• 1 small red chilli pepper, without seeds
• 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 25 ml Noilly Prat or other dry white vermouth
• 125 ml white wine
• 1 l vegetable stock or mushroom stock
• 500 ml single cream
• salt, white pepper
• drizzle olive oil
• 12 raw prawns, cleaned
• 6 Stängel lemongrass
• drizzle olive oil

Steps

1. Preparation:
2. Preheat the grill to 200°C.
3. Cut each of the peppers lengthwise into three pieces, place them on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil.
4. Grill until the skins turn black, 15­–20 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they cook.
5. Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover with cling film (this will loosen the skins). When cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skins and chop the flesh finely.
6. Heat the butter in a saucepan. When melted, add the shallots and cook gently over low-medium heat, stirring until translucent, about 10 minutes.
7. Add the lemongrass, chilli, ginger and the finely chopped peppers to the pan. Pour in the Noilly Prat and the white wine, turn the heat up to high and let the liquid reduce.
8. When the liquid has mostly evaporated, add the stock. Let the liquid reduce by one third.
9. Using a hand-held blender, purée the soup, add the cream and pass it through a sieve into a clean pan, then whizz again with the blender to give a foamy texture. Taste and season. Keep warm.
10. For the garnish, heat the oil in a frying pan. Season the prawns and fry them in the oil until pink and cooked through.
11. To serve, trim the ends of the lemongrass stalks to points, then use them to skewer the prawns, 2 prawns per lemongrass stalk.
12. Ladle the soup into warm bowls, place a lemongrass skewer over each bowl and serve.