Yin Yang Melon Soup Recipes

YIN YANG SOUP

Steps:

• Tomato Soup: In a saucepan, heat oil. Sweat onions, ginger, garlic, and green onions until glossy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add lime leaf and lemongrass. Continue to sweat another minute. Add the tomatoes, and tomato paste, and season with salt, pepper, and sugar. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove the lime leaf and lemongrass. Transfer to a blender, add butter, and chile oil, and process to a puree. Strain through a chinois and chill over a bowl of ice. Reserve.
• To make the Pea Soup: In a saucepan, heat oil. Sweat onions, ginger, garlic, and green onions until glossy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add Thai basil and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and add peas. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove Thai basil. Transfer to a blender, add butter, and process to a puree. Strain through a chinois and chill over a bowl of ice.
• To prepare the Lobster Salad: In a bowl, combine the lobster meat, mango, and Thai basil. Add 1/4 cup of Asian vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Chill until ready to serve.
• To serve: Place a 2-inch mold ring in center of soup plate. Spoon the lobster salad inside the ring. Press to mold. Ladle the soups on each side of ring. Decorate soup by placing a spoonful of contrasting soups over plated soups. In a bowl, mix the herbs and micro greens with Asian Vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper. Top lobster salad with micro green mixture and a slice of fried lotus root. Carefully remove ring. Serve immediately.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sesame oil, peanut oil, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Reserve until ready to use.

YIN-YANG MELON SOUP

Steps:

• In a food processor or blender, puree the green melon with the mint, lime juice and 1 tbsp.
• of the sugar.
• Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
• Rinse out the blender.
• Add the orange melon, lemon juice and the remaining 1 tbsp.
• of sugar and puree.
• Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
• At the same time, pour both soups from opposite sides into shallow bowls, taking care to keep them from mixing, and serve.
• The soups can be refrigerated overnight.

YELLOW-AND-RED-PEPPER YIN-YANG SOUP

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the yellow peppers, cumin, 1 pinch of the sugar and 2 cups of the stock. In another small saucepan, combine the red peppers, chipotle, remaining pinch sugar and remaining 2 cups stock. Place both pans over medium heat, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the peppers are very tender, about 25 minutes. Remove both pans from the heat and allow to cool.
• Transfer the yellow-pepper mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve back into the pan, pressing the solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids. Repeat the process with red-pepper mixture.
• Place both pans over medium-low heat and stir 1/2 cup cream into each saucepan. Season to taste with salt and pepper; do not boil.
• Warm 6 wide soup bowls. Using 4 layers of aluminum foil, fashion a divider that will fit securely in bowls, dividing each in half. Place divider in one bowl. Pour 1/2 cup yellow soup into a cup with a spout. Pour 1/2 cup red soup into another cup with a spout. Simultaneously pour each soup into separate halves of bowl. Carefully remove divider. Garnish yellow half of the soup with 1/2 teaspoon red caviar (or brunoise of red pepper). Garnish red half with 1/2 teaspoon sevruga caviar (or brunoise of yellow pepper). Sprinkle with chives. Repeat with all bowls and serve.