A rich and creamy nut soup of Cherokee origin, kanuchi has few ingredients but a world of deep nutty flavor. Simmering the nuts while the liquid reduces softens the nut paste while thickening the soup.
A hard boil at the end emulsifies any separated fats into the soup.
Kanuchi is a creamy Cherokee soup traditionally made from hickory nuts that are crushed by hand into a thick paste. That paste is then formed into large balls and stored until ready to use for this soup. Because hickory nuts aren’t farmed commercially in the United States, pecans, which have a similar flavor, can be used instead.
In this recipe, adapted from one provided by Taelor Barton, we use a food processor to transform the nuts into a paste, but depending on the power of your machine and how long you allow it to process the nuts, it’s possible your paste will end up too smooth and loose to form balls. This is fine, in that you can still make a delicious soup regardless of the final consistency of the paste.
