Two 'underground' vegetables join forces in a soup you'll want to share
Put half of the lemon juice and a squeezed lemon half in a mixing bowl with the water. Peel and cube the sunchokes, and put the cubes in the lemon water.
Heat a stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and then the shallot and fennel. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are fragrant and begin to look translucent, 5 to 6 minutes.
Drain the diced sunchokes and add them to the pot along with the potatoes, followed by the 3 cups of stock and the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the potato and sunchokes are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining lemon juice.
Working in batches if necessary and following the manufacturer's instructions for pureeing hot liquids, carefully transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth; keep pureed batches in a clean bowl, and then carefully transfer the pureed soup back to the pot. Stir in more stock as needed to reach a fluid consistency you like, and gently reheat the soup over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Ladle the soup into heated serving bowls, garnishing each serving with chopped fennel fronds, coarsely ground black pepper, and, if you like, sunchoke chips.
SUNCHOKE CHIPS
1 pound (500 g) unpeeled sunchokes, scrubbed clean
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Fill a large bowl with cold water. With a sharp knife or a mandoline, carefully cut the sunchokes into thin slices about 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) thick, immediately dropping them into a bowl of cold water to prevent browning. Rinse and drain the slices 3 times, and pat them very dry with paper towels.
Pour enough oil into a large, deep skillet to reach a depth of about 1 inch (2.5 cm). Clip a deep-frying thermometer to the side of the skillet and heat the oil to a temperature of 375 F (190 C). Alternatively, use a countertop thermostat-controlled electric deep-fryer, following the manufacturer's instructions.
Working in batches to prevent overcrowding the skillet, fry the sunchoke slices until golden brown, stirring occasionally with a wire skimmer, 3 to 4 minutes. Using the skimmer, transfer the chips to paper towels to drain; sprinkle with some salt.
Once the chips have cooled completely, store in an airtight container at cool room temperature until needed.
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