WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Sunchokes have an earthy, sweet, nutty flavor that makes them ideal for hearty soups. Here we wanted to highlight that flavor in a rich, wintery chowder. Since sunchokes do not contain any starch, they blend up well into purees and soups without developing a gummy or gluey texture. We started by cooking sunchokes in an aromatic base of butter, onions, and water and blending this mixture with some cream. Tasters enjoyed the richness of the chowder, but wanted more depth and sweetness. So, to bring more robust flavor, we tried caramelizing the sunchokes in butter before adding the aromatics, which produced a deep brown fond in the pot. We deglazed the mixture with white ale, which added sweetness and malty notes. Our team loved this combination, and found the finished chowder deeply satisfying. For some textural contrast, we reserved some caramelized sunchokes to stir in at the end, and sprinkled on some toasted almonds for crunch. We prefer to use a mild white ale in this recipe, but you can substitute a mild lager, such as Budweiser, if desired.
SERVES: 6 to 8
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1½ pounds sunchokes, unpeeled, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 2 onions, chopped
- Salt
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2½ cups water, plus extra as needed
- 1 cup white ale
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
- 3 tablespoons crème fraîche
INSTRUCTIONS:
- COOK THE SUNCHOKES: Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add sunchokes and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender (paring knife should slip easily in and out of sunchokes), 15 to 20 minutes. Measure out 1 cup cooked sunchokes and set aside.
- SAUTE ONIONS AND ADD LIQUIDS: Stir onions and 1½ teaspoons salt into pot with remaining sunchokes and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in water and ale, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until sunchokes are very tender and easily break apart when poked with paring knife, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in cream.
- BLEND THE SOUP: Working in batches, process soup in blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain soup through fine-mesh strainer set over now-empty pot, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
- ADD COOKED SUNCHOKES AND ADJUST CONSISTENCY: Stir in reserved sunchokes and bring to brief simmer over medium-low heat. Adjust consistency with extra hot water as needed. Season with salt to taste.
- SERVE: Sprinkle individual portions with almonds and chives and dollop with crème fraîche before serving.
