Smoky flavouring for soup... ideas?

[owen]

I was just chatting to a friend who's a retired fireman and used to do the cooking in the firehouse.

He gave me a recipe for lentil soup that had ham in it "or anything smoky".

Obviously ain't gonna put that in it but was wondering about vegan foods with smoky flavours... drawing a blank at the moment but really fancy a smoky-flavoured plant-based food to add to me lentil soup.

Anyone got any ideas?


O

[Risker]

You can buy a product called liquid smoke, never tried it myself though

[twinkle]

In places like Fresh and Wild you can buy Topas smoked seitan slices, which might work.

[sponge]

I use liquid smoke a lot in soups or in seitan that you want to taste "barbecue-like" Try it. It's good, but a small amount is all you need.

[bryzee86]

i'd love liquid smoke. seen so many recipes i'd love to try, but you cannot get the damned stuff over here!

ooh maybe a ruby-duby-super-marmitey-swappy.....

[RubyDuby]

ooooh, i sure do have liquid smoke

havent tried it in soup yte though... hmm.

[owen]

Thanks!

I'd never heard of liquid smoke but after a bit of googling just ordered 3 bottles on line. £15 (but about half of that was P&P which was a bugger).

Seems to be common in the US. I've never seen it over here... but then again I don't walk down the barbecue aisles in the supermarket


O

[Sluggie]

You could try smoked paprika, but the paprika part of the flavour might be a bit overpowering. Or there's always smoked tofu.

[Roxy]

Mmmmm smoked tofu! Or faux bacon might work too. It has a bit of a "smoky" flavour.

[auntierozzi]

I love the smoked paprika too.

[Pob]

I think smoked paprika should do the trick too. Tastes a bit like smoky bacon to me, actually.

Be careful, though, as some smoked paprika I have bought was more like smoked cayenne! It was really, really hot.

[owen]

I've never noticed smoked paprika before. Can you get it in most supermarkets or do you have to get it elsewhere?

[Sluggie]

I buy it in Sainsburys. It's usually in the "posh foodie" section rather than with the other spices. It comes in little red tins.

[Marrers]

Those Bacos fake bacon bits are still vegan aren't they? Would they do the trick?

[owen]

Thanks for the heads up on Sainsbury's for the smoked paprika. Looking forward to trying stuff with that.

As for the heat... I make my lentil soup with chillies... I love really spicy food.


Yep fake bacon bits might do it Marrers but tbh it's not quite my thing - I can't remember the last time I had fake meat -- just don't want it. My ex- used to do stuff with Quorn "mince" when I went over there and I think that was the last time I ate it.

O

[harpy]

I think the bacon bits are made from GM soy unfortunately - that's why I stopped buying them although there may be other brands somewhere.

You can sometimes get smoked garlic - that might have done the job but obviously you're sorted now!


ETA interesting that a firefighter would go in for smoky flavours

[owen]

Just ate a big bowlful of that soup -- really, really nice.

Here we go:

250g lentils (used green this time; usually use red)

saucepan of water with a vegetable stock cube

onion

handful of celery

handful of carrots

2 cloves garlic

4 cloves of er... cloves [this is the flavour I really love in this soup and it goes nice with the smoky flavour too]

3 chillies

splash of liquid smoke


cook for no idea cos my friend Gi phoned and I lost track of time while it was simmering, had to top up the water at one point, bet it was about 40 mins to an hour. Normally do about 30-40 mins with red lentils

Topped off with a bit of fresh coriander sprinkled on the bowlful


YUM!

Thanks all!



****
Harpy, Jack is a retired fireman but he used to cook for the guys in the firehouse (which I guess is an American fire station) and the recipe he gave me was all in non-metric units but would feed about 12 blokes -- seriously!

[vegcurry]

i'd love liquid smoke. seen so many recipes i'd love to try, but you cannot get the damned stuff over here!

ooh maybe a ruby-duby-super-marmitey-swappy.....

I think I've seen it in Morrisons.

[86onions]

Chipotle is supposed to work in soups that want the smoky (ham) flavor.

[DCouch]

Chipotle Chilies!
They are smoked chilies in a spicy tomato sauce. they come in a can.

[Ruby Rose]

DP - chipotle has already been suggested - but it's not readily available in the UK

[gogs67]

I just use veggie rashers chopped up into tiny pieces!

[Gorilla]

I think the bacon bits are made from GM soy unfortunately - that's why I stopped buying them although there may be other brands somewhere.

i used to love putting Bacos in pea soup but i stopped buying them because of the GM soya, too. i haven't seen anything else similar

[cobweb]

i still use Bacos - also use the Jack Daniels smoky BBQ sauce which is marked suitable for vegans.

[Gorilla]

oh yes, i've tried the Jack Daniels BBQ sauce - i think it was too bitter and spicy for me

[leela]

You can get Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce from Waitrose. Its really good, smoky and hot.
I haven't seen it in other supermarkets though.

[harpy]

In places like Fresh and Wild you can buy Topas smoked seitan slices, which might work.

I tried this with a smoked seitan "steak" which I chopped up and put in my vegetable box soup. It was pretty good - some people probably wouldn't like it as it looks and tastes very like smoked something-we-wouldn't-eat, but as it came out of a packet marked "seitan" I was happy