Now that travel is a thing again, Christopher and I decided to revive our tradition of getting out of town for a bit just before Thanksgiving. We’d been missing the annual ritual of unpacking our bags with one hand while sliding a turkey into the oven with the other.
A few weeks ago, we boarded The Canadian in Toronto for a transcontinental ride I had always wanted to take. From an observation car, we watched the Canadian landscape roll past for four whole days. The views of the lakes of Ontario were gorgeous. So were the ice-frosted grain fields of Saskatchewan. And the Rocky Mountains.
Our fellow passengers were more eclectic than we’d imagined: older couples working through their bucket lists, but also train geeks from England, recent college grads from France, and a health-care tech executive from Washington, D.C. There was even a note of intrigue: Our new tech friend convinced us that one of the passengers — a young guy and incessant mansplainer — was a stowaway. “Have you ever seen him go into a cabin?” she asked knowingly.
What was not so memorable about the trip was the food. The service was friendly, and there were white tablecloths and flowers, but the food needed an upgrade. It had a distinct prepackaged Sysco flair about it; flavor was not its strong point.
It was not yet noon when we pulled into Vancouver, but lunch was already on our minds. The fact that that a crowd was beginning to gather at the ramen restaurant across the street from our hotel on Robson Street seemed like a good sign: we got in line. The restaurant proclaimed vegan ramen its specialty, and that’s what most people seemed to be ordering. We followed suit. The steaming broth was every bit as rich as the pork variety I love, and the noodles were made in house. We were impressed.
As we slurped it, though, we noticed that the Japanese-speaking woman next to me had ordered from the “Other Soups” section of the menu. Her deep bowl held a beautiful, burnished orange broth that gave off an intoxicating scent of curry and coconut milk. I was a little jealous. I had to ask, and the woman pointed to an item with a deceptively unassuming name: “Spicy Curry Soup.”
Back in Truro, I consulted my favorite soup cookbook, Lukas Volger’s Bowl, to get started and then kicked around the internet for other clues. I decided to let a recipe by Yewande Komolafe be my guide. It called for red curry paste, and I suspected it might be what gave that soup in Vancouver its irresistible smell. Also, I just happened to have a jar just slightly past its prime in the fridge.
I followed Komolafe’s lead and used silken tofu, which gives the soup a luscious texture. I especially like the way it contrasts with the crunch of the vegetables, but if you have another kind of tofu on hand, I’m sure it will work.
Who knows if the result exactly matches that soup we didn’t order, but this one is darn good and comes together in a snap. I’m considering writing to the Canadian rail system to suggest they give the recipe a try.
Spicy Curry Soup
Serves 6
2 packages silken tofu
2 Tbsp. neutral oil, such as grapeseed
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-inch piece ginger, grated
3 Tbsp. red (or other) curry paste
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 quart vegetable stock
1 can full-fat coconut milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup soy sauce
3 cups steamed vegetables, such as broccoli, green beans, sugar snap peas or carrots
1½ cups chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as cilantro, basil, mint, chives
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Lime wedges
- Drain the tofu and pat dry. Cut the blocks into thick slices.
- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until it just shimmers. Add the onion and stir until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and curry paste and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sweet potato and bring to a simmer, cooking until the tomato juices thicken slightly, about 4 minutes.
- Pour in the vegetable stock, increase the heat to high, and bring the soup to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer to reduce the liquid and cook the sweet potatoes through, about 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, season to taste with salt, and remove from heat.
- While the broth is simmering, divide the tofu slices into 6 bowls, breaking up each slice into 4 or 5 pieces. Season each bowl with 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and a little black pepper and top with about a half cup of steamed vegetables and about quarter cup of the fresh herb mix.
- Ladle the hot broth into the bowls of tofu and top with sliced scallions. Serve with lime wedges for each eater to squeeze into the soup at the last minute.
