Chilled Cucumber-Avocado Soup with Crab Salad

I love cold soups, especially cold cucumber soup.  It reminds me of hot midday meals in the Caribbean and Mexico.  Of course, eating it at home is pretty good, too.

When I make this dish for guests I want it to transport them the same way it transports me, so I add lots of flavor.  The addition of avocado and coconut milk to pureed cucumber makes the soup creamy-smooth, and adds a pleasant sweetness.  I cut through that sweetness with just enough Thai green curry paste and serrano chile to linger on your palette.  The crab salad, which can be omitted for a vegetarian friendly plate, adds a luxurious element to the dish and compliments the flavors in the soup perfectly.

The soup is best eaten the day after it’s made to give the flavors time to develop.  If your blender is too small to accommodate all of the ingredients (remember to factor the water into your calculation), blend the soup in batches.  It’s worth splurging for jumbo lump crabmeat for this recipe.  The crab is dressed simply, so the relative quality of your product will really show though.

Chilled Cucumber-Avocado Soup with Crab Salad

Ingredients

Cucumber Avocado Soup
2 cucumbers, about 12 ounces each, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 Hass avocados, coarsely chopped
3 teaspoons Thai green curry paste
2 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons finely grated lime zest from 3 limes
2 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
1 13-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
3 tablespoons lime juice from 3 limes
Fine sea salt
Cayenne pepper
Ground white pepper
Siracha (optional)

Crab Salad (Optional)
1 pound jumbo lump crab meat, picked over
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon minced chives
Black pepper

How to Pit An Avocado

Instructions

1. In a blender, puree the cucumbers until smooth.  Add the avocados, curry paste, sugar, lime zest and chile.  Process until blended.  Add 3 1/2 cups of water, the coconut milk and lime juice and process until smooth.  Transfer the soup to a large bowl and season with salt, cayenne and white pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate until chilled, or overnight.
2. When ready to serve the soup, place the crabmeat in a medium bowl and add the lemon juice and chives.  Toss gently to combine.  Season with salt, black pepper and cayenne to taste. 
3. Taste and season the now developed flavors of the soup with salt, white pepper, and drops of siracha for added heat (optional--be gentle).
4. To serve, mound a small pile of the crab salad in the center of a wide soup bowl.  Carefully ladle some of the soup around the crab.  The crab should still be visible above the soup.  Don’t’ submerge it.  Repeat with remaining bowls.  Finish the soup with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper.