Day 148 - Cape Tribulation, Queensland - Hot and Sour Pumpkin Soup w/ Crocodile

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Another great meal to end to another fantastic day-trip in Australia! (one could really get used to this ... lol)

After our brief visits to Port Douglas and Mossman Gorge earlier in the day, Mat and I headed even further north to Cape Tribulation.

Cape Tribulation, which is more of an area than a town, lies on the coast where the Daintree National Park's rainforest meets the ocean. Amazingly lush vegetation comes right down to the sandy beaches, from which you can see the nearest coral on the outter edge of the Great Barrier Reef.

It's a slow, winding road on the way up (and back) to Cape Tribulation. One of the endangered species in the area is the elusive Cassowary. (So elusive is it, that the only picture I could get was this life-sized plaster Cassowary on the way up to Cape Trib) lol

Cassowaries are very large flightless bird, native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and northeastern Australia. Recently, they have also been spotted to attack humans, though this usually only occurs in self-defense when humans intrude upon the birds' territory or cause them to feel threatened. It has become an endangered species in Australia, its numbers being threatened by loss of habitat, attacks from animals (such as dogs) and (in Cape Tribulation’s case) backpackers and tourists speeding in their campervans, anxious to arrive in Cape Tribulation and innadvertantly running over road-side cassowaries.

After an afternoon of soaking in the bathwater-warm ocean waters, and a brilliant dinner at one of the local resorts in the area (more on that in a moment), Mat and I saw three things on our drive back to Cairns:

1) Trees, trees and more trees (<- but there's nothing interesting to write about here).

2) Burning fields of sugar cane - "Burning cane" was once much more popular amongst farmers in the area. Although it's largely viewed as something of the past, some farmers continue to burn selective patches of sugar cane, mostly to improve the following year's crop, but also to dispose of unwanted cane. It's a pretty site to drive by numerous cane fields at night, with small, red-glowing fires dotting the landscape.

3) A bright, clear sky of stars - You forget how good it is to get away from big-city light polution and see a sky full of stars and constellations. Aw-inspiring stuff. :)

There are a handfull of high-end resorts in the Cape Tribulation area. Though Mat and I were a little out-of-place amongst the resort guests (visual: us in board shorts, flip flops, sandy t-shirts ...), the restaurant staff at the Cape Resort & Restaurant were all too pleased to allow us to dine at their establishment. Fortunately for us, there were lots of locally-inspired fusion dishes on the menu ("bloggable food" <- yes!) for Mat and I to chose from.

By far the best hot & sour soup I've ever had (it beat the soup-by-the-gallon version most chinese restaurants serve by a mile). I'm going to go one step further, though, and suggest a recipe that uses pumpkin also, because (a) Mat and I always seem to eat something with pumpkin in it whenever we hang out, and (b) so do most Australians. lol

C / O Epicurious.com, with some minor adjustments:

Ingredients:

1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (3-lb) sugar or cheese pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
1 cup dry white wine
2 qt chicken stock, or 1 qt canned chicken broth and 1 qt water
6 lemongrass stalks (bottom 5 inches only), coarsely chopped
1 (1-inch) piece galangal (thawed if frozen), peeled and coarsely chopped
3 to 5 fresh (1 1/2-inch) Thai chiles or 2 fresh jalapeño chiles, trimmed and coarsely chopped (seed chiles if a milder flavor is desired)
4 kaffir lime leaves (fresh or frozen)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
500 grams of pan-friend Crocodile meat (or chicken)

Method:

Cook onion, garlic, and ginger in 1 tablespoon oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Add pumpkin and wine and boil, uncovered, until wine is reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Stir in stock and simmer, covered, until pumpkin is tender, about 20 minutes.

Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté lemongrass, galangal, and chiles to taste, stirring, until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Purée pumpkin mixture in batches (use caution when blending hot liquids) and return to pot. Stir in lemongrass mixture, lime leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar.

Simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Pour soup through a sieve, discarding solids, add still-friend Crocodile meat and season well with salt and pepper..