10 Mar 2017
Traditional Kaiseki is all about showcasing seasonal ingredients. Sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes, are bizarre knobbly-looking root vegetables in the sunflower family. Kohlrabi is another root vegetable that is compared to broccoli stems, the kind of thing people typically puzzle over in CSA baskets. I was able to find both at my local farmer's market before cooking, but this dish follows a pretty simple formula that can be adapted many ways throughout the year depending on whats available to you.
In general, a good formula for putting together pureed soups is to sweat alliums in butter (onion, shallot, leek, etc), add your vegetable(s) of choice, aromatics, water or stock, simmer until tender, blend, season, and serve. This particular version is a hot pureed soup of sunchokes to serve after the crackers and sandwich from before, and topped with some crunchy, acidic pickled kohlrabi colored a brilliant red hue by beet slices. I chose to use water instead of stock to focus on the pure flavor of vegetables, but you could use stock for a richer flavor as well.
Makes about 2 cups.
2 bulbs kohlrabi
1 red beet
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
3 shallots
3 cloves garlic
8 sunchokes
Champagne vinegar
Cayenne pepper
Xanthan gum (optional)
4 croutons
Beet-pickled kohlrabi
Daikon sprouts or other green
Sous vide setup (optional)