Spicy Thai curry soup

This spicy Thai curry soup bursts with the flavour of the East. Have you got lemon-grass, coriander and peppadews growing in your garden? And plenty of fresh greens like tender young spinach or kale to add yet more colours?

A can of full-cream coconut milk will make this one of the more expensive soups. Toss in half a cup of chickpeas[2] to thicken it and reduce your need to have meat every day.

Researchers are continuing to convince us that it's the dark-green leafy vegetables, coloured foods and plenty of legumes that keep us chipper; especially if we can get into the garden and grow many of them ourselves. That is at the heart of Blue Zone longevity should you desire to reach a zestful ninety with all your marbles intact.

Spicy Thai curry soup is rich in flavour and the ingredients that contribute to our well-being.

This page was updated by Bernard Preston on 7th February, 2024.

Ingredients

Spicy Thais curry soup ingredients.

This spicy Thai curry soup recipe will make 6 delicious bowls.

It is rich in many important phytonutrients and especially vitamin A. The anti-inflammatory capsaicin alone makes it a worthy soup for every home.

The flavour is out of this world.

Option 1: Thick and rich

Greens:

  • Two large handfuls of young spinach or Swiss chard leaves. In season, kale and beet-tops would add more variety.

Herbs:

  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • Inch long piece of freshly-peeled ginger
  • 6 green spring-onions, shallots or leeks
  • A handful of green-coriander, also known as cilantro

Spices:

  • One peppadew, including the seeds and placenta if you like it hot
  • One sweet red-pepper
  • 1/2 tsp of curry-powder

Liquid:

  • 1/2 a can of full-cream coconut milk
  • Zest, pulp and juice of half a lime

Fat:

  • 2 TBSP of coconut-butter

Go for it

  1. In a medium-sized pot fry the onions and ginger in the coconut butter for a few minutes.
  2. Stir in the curry powder for another minute or so.
  3. Meanwhile split the lemongrass down the middle and discard the tough outer layer; slice thinly.
  4. Thinly scrape some of the zest and add it to the pot and then remove the pith. Cut the lime into slices.
  5. Cut the peppadews in half and remove the stalks.
  6. Toss in the sliced lemon grass, onion tops and zest; the lime slices including the pulp but not the pith which is bitter. Then add the garlic, the coriander and the sweet peppers. Saute for another few minutes.
  7. Add the coconut milk and simmer for ten minutes.
  8. Meantime de-vein the greens, slice them and then add the snippets to the pot. Boil for a couple minutes until they are tender.
  9. (Drop in the chunk of roasted butternut.)
  10. Use a stick blender to liquidise. If you want it super-smooth, use a food processor.
  11. Serve hot or cold, with thick slices of artisan bread and a glass of Chenin Blanc on the side; or a shot of spicy peppadew mead if you're an adventurous beekeeper.
  12. A dash of cream if your cholesterol is dangerously low is always an option.
Spicy Thai curry soup in pot.

Spicy Thai curry soup

Spicy Thai curry soup with added coconut cream.

Spicy Thai curry soup is made with herbs like lemongrass and coriander; spices like peppadews and a mild curry powder.

Our philosophy is slow food, made fast. Including collecting all the ingredients from the garden, washing and preparing them for this spicy Thai curry soup, cooking the dish takes less than an hour.

Secondly you will surely have noticed that every single ingredient would contribute to your well-being; and especially a wide variety of coloured foods that have many of the phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals that we desperately need to be strong. Don't we all want to live long in the land without pain and medication?

Today this philosophy is called using food as medicine even in mainline healthcare; scientists have found that full-blown type 2 diabetes can be brought completely into remission without drugs.

Thirdly it is relatively inexpensive with only the coconut cream adding a significant cost.

Fourthly we have sourced most of the ingredients from the garden; and have used what is in season. So there are mixed greens including spinach, Swiss chard and beet tops; and several types of kale.

We have many kinds of onions in our garden; year round we always have the green tops that they provide for our food.

It is so easy to plant an onion that has started sprouting into the ground and you have years of delicious green tops to add to your favourite dishes.

At this time we are short on shallots and spring onions but there are plenty of wild leeks coming up.

Spicy Thai curry soup with added greens.

Enjoy the soup with thick slices of artisan bread and plenty of butter; those who enjoy these kinds of suppers need have no fear of the cholesterol lurgy.

I would like to pay tribute to Jessica George from the Jackie Cameron School of Food and Wine for the inspiration behind my spicy Thai curry soup.

There is a wonderful chef in the making; many thanks, Jessica.

Option 2: Thick and less rich

Do not be afraid to experiment; tailor this recipe to the demands of your own taste buds. We started with a whole lime but soon realised it was over-powering; hence only a half.

Notice there is no salt; there is really no need and since most folk add it even before tasting their food anyway, we always keep it light.

For option 2, we used 200 ml of unchlorinated water and only half a can of coconut cream. To thicken our spicy Thai curry soup, we could add a chunk of roasted butternut or half a cup of chickpeas.

Many coloured foods

Following a group of people who ate seven or more coloured foods most days for over twenty years, scientists found that they had a 33% lower all-cause of death; that is massive.

Another study published in the British Medical Journal found a 5% lower all cause of death for each additional coloured food, up to five, particularly from cardiovascular disease[1].

We do not get obsessive about it but if you count, you will find at least eight different coloured ingredients in our spicy Thai curry soup; and that's excluding the garlic, ginger and onions.

I believe that is one of the reasons we in our eighth decade enjoy a "life without medication." Type it in the Site Search in the main menu above.

"It has been estimated that 20% of Medicare beneficiaries have five or more chronic conditions; and fifty percent are taking 5 plus drugs."

Bread at night

Enjoy a spicy curry soup at night may be problematic until we learned to make artisan bread like this loaf.

Bread at night has been a thorny problem for me, especially if enjoyed with a spicy soup; it gave me terrible indigestion. Two things changed that completely.

Firstly learning to bake our own artisan bread proved to be only a small challenge. It takes just five minutes every morning; and secondly having half a cup of kefir several times a week. It is a wonderful probiotic to beef up the friendly bacteria in the colon.

What is artisan bread you may be asking; and more about these kefir benefits, please.

Making your own kefir is so easy using a plastic funnel.

Blindness in children

Statistics vary considerably but the principle remains; a vitamin A deficiency is a major cause of blindness in children particularly in Africa and SE Asia. Some authorities state there are up to three-million new cases every year; that's massive.

This spicy Thai curry soup, rich in dark-green leafy vegetables and butternut would prevent all of that; beta carotene is the precursor of vitamin A.

"Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness."

- Unicef[1]


  1. Coloured fruit and veg consumption and all cause mortality @ BMJ
  2. Vitamin A deficiency in children
  3. Cooking chickpeas

When browsing use right click and "Open Link in New Tab" or you may get a bad gateway signal.

Newsletter

Our newsletter is entitled "create a cyan zone" at your home, preserving both yourself and Mother Earth for future generations; and the family too, of course. We promise not to spam you with daily emails promoting various products. You may get an occasional nudge to buy one of my books.

Here are the back issues.

  • Lifestyle and ideal body weight
  • What are ultra-processed foods?
  • Investing in long-term health
  • Diseases from plastic exposure
  • Intensive lifestyle management for obesity has limited value
  • A world largely devoid of Parkinson's Disease
  • The impact of friendly bacteria in the tum on the prevention of cancer
  • There's a hole in the bucket
  • Everyone is talking about weight loss drugs
  • Pull the sweet tooth
  • If you suffer from heartburn plant a susu
  • Refined maize meal and stunting
  • Should agriculture and industry get priority for water and electricity?
  • Nature is calling
  • Mill your own flour
  • Bake your own sourdough bread
  • Microplastics from our water
  • Alternative types of water storage
  • Wear your clothes out
  • Comfort foods
  • Create a bee-friendly environment
  • Go to bed slightly hungry
  • Keep bees
  • Blue zone folk are religious
  • Reduce plastic waste
  • Family is important
  • What can go in compost?
  • Grow broad beans for longevity
  • Harvest and store sunshine
  • Blue zone exercise
  • Harvest and store your rainwater
  • Create a cyan zone at your home

Did you find this page interesting? How about forwarding it to a friendly book or food junkie? Better still, a social media tick would help.

Address:

56 Groenekloof Rd,

Hilton, KZN

South Africa

Website:

https://www.bernard-preston.com