Chef Wong’s Mulligatawny Soup Recipe

Try this Mulligatawny Soup for some warm feel-goodery comfort!

 We are so excited to have a guest post today from Catharine Preston, chef extraordinaire! I met Catharine at an ABC Conference in Utah last Fall. She works for The Dating Divas. I had even more to talk about with her when I found out that she graduated from culinary school. I just love having some good food convo! I told her she would have to do a post for us sometime, and she happily obliged. I hope that we can see her here again in the future. Without further ado, Catharine!

Hi, I’m Catharine and glad to be here with ya! I have always been interested in cooking, and landed a greasy-and-gutsy (…and loud) job as a line cook right after finishing high school. After a few years of working and meandering the world as an ESL teacher, I returned to my home-and-native-land of Canada and enrolled in culinary school for 2 years. I met my husband while on an internship in Salt Lake City in late 2009, and were married just 8 months later. (Hey…when you know, you know!). I have been living in Utah for almost 4 years and love it here, but will always be a true-blooded Canadian. I have two wonderful kidlets (a two year old, and a seven month old), and an almost-rocket-scientist for a husband…(just hurry up and graduate already!) Yep. I’m pretty lucky. I don’t cook professionally anymore, as my true love is teaching – but it will always be something I enjoy. I’m grateful for that. I love vintage fashion, classic literature, all things music, and midnight baking.

Let me tell you a little story about this Mulligatawny soup. Because all good food has a good story.

I rounded the corner in the culinary arts department at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology on an (unsurprisingly) chilly morning in Edmonton, Canada. I couldn’t quite seem to figure out why the Soup and Veg lab (…yes. That’s a real thing), was chuck-full of culinary students and staff alike.

When I asked what all of the buzz was about to a senior student, he uttered, “It’s Mulligatawny Day”.

My world has never been the same since.

“Mulligatawny Day” is a famous day amongst the quirky NAIT culinary folk in that chilly little corner of the world. Chef Ron Wong makes, undoubtedly, the best Mulligatawny soup…probably ever. In the history of always. For all time. The end.

So, if you ever happen to be hanging around Edmonton, be sure to eat here and send Chef Wong your love for this incredible recipe. Or – check out local culinary arts programs in your neck of the woods, and support their on-campus restaurants!Shout out to my incredible friend Julie, who took some amazing pictures for this post!

We start off by sauteing up some onion, garlic, green pepper, and carrots. You can go ahead and use whatever type of fat you want to use for this inital “sweat”; butter, oil, you name it. Butter is expensive, it’s true – but I tend to splurge on this soup. It’s just that good.

Once your veg is sufficiently cooked (to a nice al dente), add some butter and let it melt. Then, add some flour to create a nice roux. You want to be sure to let the roux hang out in the pot long enough to cook out that “floury” taste – at least a minute. I also add in my curry powder at this point – I love to let it mingle with all of those flavors for as long as possible!

Now is the time to add some milk or cream! I typically use half and half, or HECK, full fat – but, this time, I went with milk, as I was making a pretty large batch. And I kinda want some money in my bank account.

You can add more or less than the amount stated – this soup is really forgiving. Don’t feel like you have to follow the recipe exactly, and that goes for any and all soups!

I added in my cooked rice and chicken at this point. You can add it in here, or add it in after your stock, whatever you prefer. I like to add everything that may cause a change in consistency (like rice, which tends to thicken soups) before I add my stock – it just gives a better idea as to what thickness is really going to be like with the finished product. Then I can play at the very end with the hot cream, and not get any “this soup is too thick/too thin” surprises!

Anyway, you want it to look something like this before you add in your stock:

Then…add in that stock! (Side story…because everyone loves behind-the-scenes blog side stories, right? I make my own stock and freeze it in two cup portions in ziploc bags. Guess who forgot to pull it out and thaw it for the soup? THIS GAL! So it was just a couple of big old ugly blobs of frozen stock simmering in a pot of gorgeous roux-i-fied veggies. Not so beautiful. Thus. No picture. But use your imagination!)

Be sure to add your stock in slowly. You want to give the liquid a lot of time to adjust to it’s new surroundings!

Let things simmer up and get to know each other for a while. Keep it on low, and you’ll be golden.