“Daa-aa-aad. What’s for dinner?”
I remember pumpkin soup being one of the most disappointing answers to this daily question when I was a kid. It wasn’t that I didn't like it. It's just that my Dad's a chef and in a house full of delicious things pumpkin soup was, well...
"Booor-iiiing!"
Until recently, I never cooked it for myself. Then my friend, Alex, made me pumpkin soup with tom yum paste in it. It was a revelation.
Adding tom yum paste to pumpkin soup turns it into something special. I now look forward to it and make it often, and I have converted others along the way.
The amount of tom yum really depends on your taste and the brand you are using. I suggest that you add it one tablespoon at a time and check for taste in between. I have sometimes used a whole jar and other times, just a couple of tablespoons.
The same method should be used with the fish sauce, because you may not like it as salty as I do and the tom yum paste may have varying levels of salt. It is worth noting that adding lime will help counteract saltiness if you accidently add too much of either.
You can substitute pumpkin for butternut squash, sweet potato or carrots or a mixture of the above, whatever you have in your cupboard.
Makes approximately 1.5L soup, which is more than enough for 4 people for mains, or 6 people for starters.
Ingredients
700g pumpkin
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2cm ginger, grated or finely chopped
1L vegetable stock
1 x 400g tin coconut cream or milk (optional)
5 tbsp tom yum paste, or to taste
2 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
To serve
1 small bunch coriander
Crusty bread or roti
Method
Deseed the pumpkin, cut into chunks (approx 5x5 cm) and cut off the skin.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a low heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and sweat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the stock and pumpkin and turn the heat up high. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook the pumpkin until soft; how long this takes will depend on the type of pumpkin and size of the chunks, but allow for at least 10 minutes. You can take pieces out and test them by squishing with a fork.
Place a colander over a large bowl and drain the vegetables, reserving the stock. Put the vegetables in a food processor; you may need to do this in batches. Add a little of the stock to aid the process if needed.
Return the vegetable puree to the saucepan, add the coconut cream or milk if you are using it, then pour in as much stock as you need to reach the consistency you desire. Add the tom yum paste 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring and checking the taste each time. Do the same with the fish sauce.
Reserve a few leaves of the coriander for garnish. Finely chop the rest and stir through the soup just before serving. Garnish with the leaves and serve with crusty bread or roti.
