🇺🇸 United States · Minnesota (Minneapolis)
Minnesota wild rice soup
A creamy Minnesota soup of cooked wild rice in a béchamel base, with ham (chicken in some versions), made as a way to use leftover wild rice.
Origin and history
According to an account of its origin, wild rice soup was created in the 1970s at the Orion Room, a restaurant atop the IDS Tower in downtown Minneapolis, by Keith Kersten, a recent cooking-school graduate. The head chef had grown fond of wild rice and often cooked more than needed, so Kersten folded the expensive leftovers into a béchamel with ham. The soup has since become a Minnesota staple, found in restaurants and in grocery-store versions such as the one from Lunds & Byerlys.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 15 min
- Hands-on
- 30 min
Ingredients
- 130 g3/4 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed; gives about 2 cups cooked (or use 2 cups leftover cooked wild rice)
- 85 g6 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp minced onion
- 60 g1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 720 ml3 cups chicken broth
- 50 g1/2 cup finely grated carrot
- 45 g1/3 cup minced cooked ham
- 25 g3 tbsp slivered almonds, chopped
- 2.5 g1/2 tsp salt, to taste
- 240 ml1 cup half-and-half
- 30 ml2 tbsp dry sherry, optional
- chives or parsley, snipped, to garnish
Method
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1. Rinse the wild rice, put it in a saucepan with 480 ml (2 cups) of water and simmer for about 45 minutes, until many grains have split open. Drain. Skip this step if you are using leftover cooked rice.
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2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion in it until soft and translucent.
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3. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute, without letting it brown, to make a pale roux.
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4. Pour in the chicken broth gradually, stirring constantly, then bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, until the base is smooth and thickened like a light béchamel.
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5. Stir in the cooked wild rice, carrot, ham, almonds and salt, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
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6. Add the half-and-half and the sherry, if using, and heat through without boiling.
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7. Taste for salt (the ham and broth vary), scatter with chives or parsley and serve hot.
Notes
- Quantities follow the Lunds & Byerlys recipe (4 servings; the uncooked-rice amount and its cooking come from the Iowa State recipe). According to the account in a radio-station feature, the soup began as a way to use leftover wild rice, so cooked rice from the day before is the natural starting point.
- Chicken can replace the ham, as the Minneapolis grocer's recipe itself allows; some home versions add celery and mushrooms, and a splash of dry white wine instead of sherry.
- It thickens as it stands. Thin it with a little broth or milk when reheating, and stir the cream in only at the end if you make it ahead.
- Wild rice (manoomin) is a native grass seed, not a true rice; true wild rice takes longer to cook than white rice and should never be substituted with white rice if you want the traditional chew.
Adapted from Lunds & Byerlys, Wild Rice Soup with Ham and Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Minnesota Wild Rice Soup (cooking of the rice).
At the festivals
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