Instant Pot Thai Squash Soup (Shift Mama)

02/02/2019

Instant Pot Thai Squash Soup

At work recently the group that organizes fun things at work came up with the idea to have soup making contest. Department members were invited to bring in their best soup creations for everyone to sample and vote on. So of course I took part - I love soup! Six of us in total brought our favourite soups to share with coworkers. I didn't win, but that is ok, I ended up with five new soup recipes and extra ingredients for my offering so I decided to adapt the recipe for the Instant Pot.

The recipe I use is based on one from Canadian Living Magazine - Thai Squash Soup With Shrimp. I've been making it, in the crock pot, for years. I've changed it up a bit, making it a bit less spicy for my family and and adjusted the amount of liquid used for my 3quart Instant Pot.

Here's what you need:

1 lemon grass stalk
1 butternut squash (approx 4 cups when peeled and cubed)
1 can coconut milk
1.5 cups of vegetable stock
1/2 tablespooon of red curry paste
six slices of fresh ginger root, visually this is approximately the same size as two dice
1.5 teaspoon of fish stock
1/4 tbsp of packed brown sugar

Here's what you do:

Peel off the outer layers of the lemon grass stalk, hit the stalk with the blade of a large kitchen knife to bruise/soften it. Cut in half (keeping the pieces large helps you take them out later).

Put everything into the Instant Pot and give it a stir. Set the pot to manual (pressure cook) 9 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally at the end. When the pressure is released (and pin has dropped) open the lid, remove the lemon grass and ginger pieces. The using an immersion blender, or potato masher if you don't have blender, blend until you have a smooth soup.

This soup freezes really well so is a great take to work option. I pull a portion out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw a bit in the work fridge, then microwave for about 2 minutes.