Kind of Awesome, Kind of Eh: Thai Watermelon Soup

Honestly, I picked this recipe because it was the weirdest one I could find...chilled watermelon puree with hot peppers, ginger, lime -- a slew of other spices -- and crab.


Here's how it hashed out.

The process:

• Lotsa mincing. Basically, you just mince all of the veggies, saute them and then puree them with some pre-pureed watermelon.
  
• Lotsa pureeing. You should use a blender. I don't have one so, I used a teensy little mini food processor. It took lots of batches, covered my kitchen with watermelon juice (user error, not the recipe) and was sort of maddening.
  
• I broke some rules. The recipe advises you to strain the watermelon and veggies after everything is pureed, but that seemed weird to me. Sort of like eating bizarre-o Kool Aid. I totally recommend the pureed-but-not-strained version, which was sort of like gazpacho.
  

The verdict:
The Watermelon broth was a total success. Unlike my other cooking efforts, it had a really complex flavor, sort of like something you'd find in a Thai restaurant. With, like, professional chefs. Honestly, though, the spicy and tart flavors really balanced the watermelon's sweetness. Really unique, great and not at all watermelon-y.

BUT, the crab was sort of gross. Instead of buying fresh crab (what am I, a millionaire?), I chose some fancy canned crab from Whole Foods. Nothing was wrong with it, per se, but it was just kind of eh. It totally grossed out Tim, who ate a few bites like a champ, and then chose to eat the non-crabified version (which I totally recommend for vegetarians). Maybe with fresh crab -- or even some other seafood, like shrimp -- it might be perfect?

Now, what am I going to do with all of that leftover crab?