Ever since we made some recipes from the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom for this channel, I’ve been really wanting to make the more exotic recipes that weren’t already real recipes in real life, and one of the first ones I wanted to make was the monster soup. With us returning to the land of Hyrule once again in Echoes of Wisdom, I thought that now would be a good opportunity to try and make another Zelda recipe. And with the weather turning to fall time, I thought it would be fun to make a soup recipe as well, so it worked out even better.
With its deep purple color and with the game describing it as having a distinct gaminess to it, I was excited to see how the Zelda cookbook I got a few months ago would handle it, and I think it did a good job at capturing the look of the dish, while creating a delicious recipe. But, I was a little disappointed that it was just a normal potato soup, so I did some more investigating and found this recipe for the monster extract that’s used in the game to make this dish, and I think that this recipe by Pixelated Provisions did a really good job with recreating this funky ingredient in real life while still keeping it edible and more importantly tasting good. And now that I have this recipe for monster extract, I’ll definitely be wanting to make the other monster recipes from these games with this ingredient at some point as well!
And since I was already making customizations to the original recipe, I thought I would add some other ingredients that would make this dish even more delicious, as well as adding in the rest of the ingredients used to make it in the game, namely the butter and the wheat, represented by the flour. So, along with our custom monster extract and milk, this recipe is very accurate to the game’s, which is just one butter, one wheat, one monster elixir, and one milk, along with one optional ingredient, which will result in a monster soup with a random amount of healing, plus a random amount of special buff from the additional ingredient, if it has one.
Without the monster extract, the soup is already very delicious, with the earthy and natural sweetness from the potatoes and red onions, plus with the creamy milk adding a nice fullness to the dish, it makes for a nice hearty bowl of sweet potato soup. But with the addition of the monster extract, it adds a really nice complexity to the flavor–with the sweetness of the berries and fruit juice as well as some spiciness from the cayenne and the unctuous umami flavor of the fish sauce–all of which plays really nicely with the already present flavors. And with the acidity of the lime adding a nice brightness to the dish, all of these flavors together combine to create a wonderfully cozy and delicious bowl of soup that is unlike any other that I’ve had before.
But regardless of if you want to keep this recipe simple with the normal ingredients or if you want to be more adventurous and try the monster extract version, this monster soup will be a great way to warm you up on a cold autumn evening after saving the princess… or just your normal chilly day.
Ingredients:
- 2 large purple sweet potatoes
- 1 red onion
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- Some scallions or green onion or fresh parsley (for garnish)
- 4 cups or so (or about 1 liter) of vegetable broth (or other stock of choice)
- 1 cup or so of coconut or normal milk (and some more for garnish)
- Some oil for sautéing
- 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour (to make a roux if you want to make the soup a bit thicker)
- Some lime juice or other acid (if needed, to balance the heaviness of the dish and to bring out more flavor)
- Some Salt and Pepper
- Some Monster Extract:
- 2 oz blackberries
- 2 oz blueberries
- 2 tbsp pomegranate juice
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 cup more coconut or normal milk
Special Equipment:
- You will also need a blender and/or an immersion blender for the monster extract as well as if you want to make the soup completely smooth
Step 1: Prepare Vegetables for the Soup
First, we’ll prepare the vegetables for the soup, so peel your potatoes and then chop them up into large cubes. Then for your onion, peel and dice this into small pieces. And then for your garlic, mince this up into small pieces as well. Also, you can mince up your green garnish into tiny pieces now as well.
Step 2: Sauté Vegetables
Next, in a large saucepan or pot, on medium-high heat, add your oil for sautéing, and once that has heated up, add in the chopped onions and sauté for a few minutes or until they start to soften and then add in the garlic to sauté for 1 more minute.
Then, once the garlic is fragrant, add in the sweet potato cubes as well as some salt to help draw out some moisture, and continue cooking this for another 5 minutes or so, stirring regularly.
Step 3: Add Vegetable Stock & Simmer for 30-40 Minutes
Then, once you’re ready, add in your vegetable stock and give it a mix. Bring this to a simmer and then cover the pot, letting it cook for 30-40 minutes, or until the potatoes are fully cooked and are soft.
Step 4: Prepare Monster Extract
While we wait, we’ll prepare the monster extract, so in a blender, add in your blackberries, blueberries, pomegranate juice, cayenne pepper, fish sauce, and 1/2 cup of coconut milk and blend this together until everything is combined.
Then, transfer this to an airtight container by straining it through a mesh strainer to remove any solid bits and then store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it and it should last a couple of weeks in the fridge. But, if you plan on using it all, you can just keep it in a bowl.
Step 5: Prepare Simple Roux
Also, while we continue to wait for our soup, we will make our roux now as well. So, in another saucepan, add in the butter and once that melts, add in the flour and whisk it for a couple of minutes until it’s combined with the butter and turns into a paste.
Then, add in the cup of milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all the milk has been incorporated. Bring this to a boil, stirring constantly, and then remove it from the heat once it starts to bubble.
Step 6: Blend Potatoes into Soup & Mix in Roux, Monster Extract, & Lime Juice; Serve w/ Splash of Milk & Sprinkling of Scallions & Enjoy!
Your soup should be about done by now, so once your potatoes are fully cooked and soft, use a potato masher or immersion blender to blend the soup into a smoother consistency. Then, add in your roux, along with your monster extract, and lime juice, and mix this until everything is combined. Season with some salt and pepper to taste and once your soup is to your liking, serve it with a garnishing of a splash of milk and a sprinkling of your scallions or other greenery. And with that, your Monster Soup is ready to eat.