Curried Persimmon Soup

Below you’ll find a list of ingredients necessary for making Curried Persimmon Soup.  I’ve taken the liberty of adding “love” to the list because it is often said to be a secret ingredient.  It is no longer a secret. (To those who did not want others to know about adding “love”, your rein of soup tyranny is over).

Ingredients:

3½ Lbs of peeled Fuyu Persimmons

½ cup minced Onion

1½ T minced fresh Garlic

5 cups of Reduced Sodium Chicken Stock

Cilantro

Lemon

Curry Power

Turmeric

Love

To preface: I had never eaten a persimmon before today.  I know about them, I’ve googled them extensively, but googling isn’t the same as eating.

To preface, this time with feeling: ripe fuyu persimmons will be slightly soft to the touch.  Think ripe tomato.  Do not try cooking with un-ripe persimmons, they taste of chalk.

Step 1: Getting to know your persimmons

Gather 3 ½ pounds of persimmons together and bathe them.  After they’re washed, remove the four leaves that sit atop the persimmon’s crown.  Take a knife and cut away at the persimmon’s sides like you would an orange, saving as much flesh as possible.  Next, remove the core.  Cut the persimmon into slices and set them aside.

Step 2: The onion, it sizzles; the ginger, it seethes

Mince ½ cup of onions as well as one teaspoon of freshly grated ginger.  Add them to the pot along with ¼ cup of reduced sodium chicken stock and let the smell engulf your kitchen.  Take your 3 ½ pounds of persimmons and add them to the mixture, letting the mixture reduce.

Step 3: Repeat; interlude; repeat

When the persimmons begin to stick to the bottom of the pan due to a lack of liquid, add another ½ cup of chicken stock to the mixture.  Follow this step several times, allowing the persimmons to become soft and the mixture to become somewhat thick in consistency.  Add curry powder to the mix 30 seconds before you remove the soup from the heat.

Step 4: A spinning that concludes with deliciousness

Remove your mixture from its pan and place it into a blender (provided it has cooled somewhat).  Blend for longer than you can bare.  The noise may be loud but you will thank yourself for allowing your soup to reach a delightfully silky consistency.  When you’re satisfied with the texture, pour your soup into a bowl and garnish with a sprig of cilantro and a few drops of lemon.

Step 5: Enjoy.

What does a persimmon taste like?  Like fall.  What does curried persimmon soup taste like? Like fall in a bowl.