Going beyond watermelon smoothies with watermelon gazpacho.

In Japan, watermelon is sometimes called “the king of fruits.” Could it also, though, be the king of soups?

Food and beverage company Ajinomoto thinks it has the potential, as they recently shared a recipe for watermelon gazpacho, which our Japanese-language reporter Aoi Kuroneko was quick to try out.

Ingredients (for four servings)

● Watermelon (350 grams [12.3 ounces])
● Cucumber (70 grams [2.5 ounces])
● Tomato (120 grams [4.2 ounces])
● Onion (30 grams [1.1 ounces])
● Garlic (1/2 clove)
● Olive oil (1 tablespoon)
● Lemon juice (2 teaspoons)
● Consommé powder (2 teaspoons)

Step 1: Chop the watermelon, cucumber, and tomatoes.

Step 2: Set aside 50 grams of watermelon and 20 crams of cucumber. Place the rest of the watermelon and cucumbers into a blender, along with the tomato, olive oil, lemon juice, and consommé powder. Blend the mixture until smooth.

Step 3: Dice the onion and garlic, add them to the mixture, and blend once more.

Step 4: Pour the blended mixture into a bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Step 5: Once the mixture is chilled (this may take a few hours), add the watermelon and cucumber you set aside in Step 1 as a topping, and your watermelon gazpacho is ready!

Setting aside the chilling, the whole thing only requires about five minutes of active prep work, which isn’t bad at all for something that comes out looking as pretty as this. As for how it tastes, let’s go to Aoi’s taste-test notes:

“From the very first moment, the watermelon makes its presence felt! This is a refreshingly chilly soup that lets you really enjoy the melon’s sweetness.

Olive oil turns out to be surprisingly compatible with watermelon, and the lemon juice and garlic are just enough to bring the soup’s sweet notes into sharper focus without covering it up, and there’s no unpleasant bitterness from the tomato or cucumber either.

All in all, this is a very unique, but also very good, soup.”

With no boiling, simmering, or other cooking involved, it’s also pretty easy to adjust the recipe to better suit your tastes, whether that means adding in more onion for a spicier finish or using a squirt more of lemon juice for extra tartness. Also, as a soup, increasing or decreasing the amount you make is a snap, making it easy to whip up a batch for a party, make use of leftover watermelon you’ve got in the fridge, or any other time you’re craving a new spin on the king of fruits.

Source: Ajinomoto
Photos © SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]