Fruit Soup with Spice Broth

Ingredients

• 1  vanilla bean, cut lengthwise in half
• One  1/4-inch-thick slice fresh ginger
• 1  star anise, crushed
• One  2-inch cinnamon stick or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2  cup sugar
• 4  cups water
•   Juice of 1 orange (about 1/2 cup)
• 1  mango or papaya (1 lb.), pitted, peeled, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 2  kiwi fruits (8 oz.), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-slice
• 1  cup red berries (such as raspberries, red currants, wild strawberries, or small strawberries), halved
• 1/2  medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
•   Fresh mint, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Combine vanilla bean, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick (or cinnamon, if using), sugar, water, and orange juice in a 4-quart pot with a tight-fitting lid. Bring mixture to a slow simmer over medium-low heat. Cover pot and simmer mixture 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 1 hour.

2. Remove and reserve vanilla bean. Strain syrup through a fine sieve into a large bowl; discard ginger, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Scrape the seeds from each half of the vanilla bean and stir into the strained syrup. (Do not discard vanilla bean. Place dry bean in sugar and make vanilla sugar.)

3. Stir mango, kiwis, berries, and pineapple into syrup and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours. Divide soup among six chilled serving bowls. Garnish with mint, if desired. Makes 6 servings.