Redwall Recipes

When I was young I read through all the Redwall books and loved them! Now I get to introduce my wife to the series and we’ve been going back and reading through them together. One of the quintessential recipes for me and many of you reading this I imagine was the Hotroot Soup that the Otters made. I always imagined it as something similar to Tom Yum soup (which my mom made a lot growing up) but a little more earthy and rich.

My version

I found the Redwall cookbook at our local library, but it and many other sources online end up making a chowder which seemed too thick and not as hot and pungent as described. I ended experimenting a bit with this one, and took some inspiration from a recipe called Killer Shrimp that another blogger used to make her version of Hotroot Soup. Mine is meant to be a good deal hotter than both of these, and also features more ingredients. To amplify the heat I put in several finely diced Thai chilies, and some Horseradish. The book talks about a adding in all sorts of wonderful roots, flowers and river greens so I put in some Asparagus which I’ve read tastes close cattails. King Oyster Mushrooms also felt like a wonderfully thematic add in as well, and the mustard greens mix well with the watercress.

Improvements and Changes for Next Time

The recipe as is turned out to be delicious, but there are a few things I’m already planning to do the next time I make it! The first time I made it I cooked my tender greens a bit longer before I put the shrimp in. This made sure they were soft, but I personally like a bit more bite to them so next time I’ll cook them the same as the shrimp. I currently also only have creamy horseradish, and really want to try either fresh horseradish or wasabi to add a lot of unique flavor and extra spice. Lastly I’d like the add some more diverse toppings like blue borage blossoms and see what other unique foraged vegetables I could put into in.

More to Come

I’m hoping to make quite a few more recipes from the Redwall series so be on the lookout for those. I’ll update this page with some links once I do. If you have any you remember from that series that you want me to recreate please leave a comment and I’ll try to make it! If you have any other series with good food ideas pass those along as well! I’m already beginning to look into some recipes from the game Stardew Valley so be on the lookout for more fun recipes!

Hotroot Soup from Redwall

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Zach Wood Course: Recipe, Redwall, SoupsCuisine: Cajun, American

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking Time

2

Hours

Hotroot soup is a spicy, flavorful soup filled with bounteous and varied types of vegetables heaping with shrimp

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons 2 Dried or Fresh Rosemary

• 1 Tablespoon 1 Ground Thyme

• 1 Tablespoon 1 Ground Fennel

• 1 Tablespoon 1 Celery Salt

• 1 1/2 Tablespoon 1 1/2 Red Chili Flakes

• 1 Tablespoon 1 Black Pepper

• 3 3 Small Shallots Diced

• 1/2 1/2 White Onion Diced

• 1 stick 1 stick Butter

• 8 Cups 8 Seafood stock (I used Korean Anchovy Broth)

• 8 Ounces 8 Clam Juice

• 1/2 1/2 Lemon

• 3 Tablespoons 3 Tomato Paste

• 12 Ounces 12 Beer

• 2 Pounds 2 Shrimp

• 1 Large Bunch 1 Watercress

• 1 Small Bunch 1 Mustard Greens

• 1 1 Large King Oyster Mushroom

• 1 Bunch 1 Asparagus

• 4-6 4-6 Thai Chilies

• 3 Tablespoons 3 Horseradish

Directions

• Grind up your spices and set them aside
• Chop up vegetables and have all ingredients out and ready
• Heat a large pan or pot over medium and cook butter until bubbly, but not brown
• Add in Celery, Onion, Shallots, and King Oyster Mushroom and cook for 7 Minutes
• Add in Garlic and Thai Chilies and Saute for another 2 minutes
• Add in your spices that were set aside and mix for another minute
• Add in Tomato Paste, Fish stock, Clam Juice, Lemon, and Beer. Bring to a boil then back down to simmer for 2 hours
• Add in Mustard Greens, Asparagus, Watercress, and Shrimp, bring the soup back to a boil for 3 minutes
• Taste and add any salt if needed, otherwise serve up!

Notes

• Some people like the vegetables to be a bit softer, and if that’s you then put yours in 10-20 minutes before the shrimp and add the shrimp for those last 3 minutes
• If you’re looking for more or less heat, mess around with amount of Thai Chilies that you’re putting in.
• Be careful not to burn your onions and celery when it’s in the butter. That will change the taste of your soup a lot
• You can use other fish or seafood stocks from the store. I’ve been using a Korean Anchovy Broth lately so that’s why I put that in the soup. The ones I use are just tablets that dissolve in water so I just dissolve them before I put them in the soup.
• The books mention serving with a little bit of cream, and I’ve gotta say those woodland critters were on to something. Just a few drops adds a nice full taste. I’ve got a picture with the cream in the slideshow below too!