Homemade Tomato Soup

There are two things to look forward to with the weather getting cooler: sweaters and soups. I love both of these things, and this time of year is just perfect for them. It isn't bitterly cold yet, but the air is tinged with enough cold that I can dig out my soup pot and throw on a sweater. 

Sometimes it can be difficult to make soup here. The "normal" ingredients that are considered staples in most American kitchens become luxury items here. A few more stores are starting to carry things like chicken bullion cubes, but it's quite expensive. You can get things like carrots, potatoes and celery. Whole chickens are relatively easy to find, so you can make your own chicken stock, but I don't have time for that most days. 

Similarly, it's nearly impossible to find chunks of beef for beef stew. Larger pieces of beef that can be cut up are also rare, and they are so expensive that I practically never buy them. So, what's a girl to do? Tomato soup! I didn't like tomato soup much when I was a kid. I was more of a chicken noodle kind of girl. But at some point in my adult life (I honestly don't remember when) I decided that tomato soup with basil was pretty much the most amazing thing ever. 

I used to keep a can of Campbell's on hand during the winter, and would make tomato soup and grilled cheese, and it was simply lovely. But I can't get Campbell's in South Korea. Today seemed like a good day for soup, so I decided to pull out my recipe and make some. The good news about this recipe is that it's really easy to make no matter which continent you live on! The ingredients are readily available in Korea (I got just about everything at my local mart) and they should be found in most pantries in America as well.

Here is our cast of characters. 

12 oz of tomato paste

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sugar

seasonings of your choice, to taste (I used basil, oregano, salt and pepper this time)

3 cups of milk

Mix all of the ingredients except for the milk into a pan. The baking soda is going to make things get a little foamy, so be sure to leave plenty of room. The baking soda may seem like a strange ingredient, but it does two things. It helps remove the slightly strange taste from canned tomato products, and it provides some alkaline to counteract the acid in the tomatoes. This will help make sure that your soup doesn't curdle when you add the dairy. 

In a separate pot, heat the 3 cups of milk. You want the tomato mixture and the milk to be roughly the same temperature. I find it works best when they are both just getting ready to start bubbling. You don't actually want the milk to bubble. It's a little hard to see, but it looks nice and cream and foamy, a little bit like it is at your favorite coffee shop. That's what you want it to look like!

When both pots are about the same temperature, add the tomatoes to the milk about 1 cup at a time. In between each addition, mix the milk and tomatoes well. Adding the tomatoes a little at a time helps the ph change slowly, and it gives things more time to adjust. This will also help make sure that your soup doesn't curdle, and give it a nice, creamy texture. 

This is what it should look like when you're all done. Creamy, tomato and basil goodness. 

You can serve it with a little bit of cheddar cheese, or some sour cream if you're into such things.  

What better way to finish off the meal than with some golden oreos? I love these. I like them more than their chocolate counterparts. You can get chocolate oreos in Seoul quite easily, but this is the first time I've seen the golden ones. I was in the local 7/11 to pay my electric bill a few days ago and happened across them. I bought the entire stock!