YIELDS
4–5 servings
PREP TIME
COOK TIME
TOTAL TIME
- 2 small pumpkins
- 1 onion (chopped)
- Half a whole garlic
- salt and pepper
- 1 thumb of ginger (peeled)
- 2-3 cups of vegetable stock
- ¼ cup coconut cream (reserve 1 tbsp for later)
- 1 tbsp of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp of miso paste
- black sesame seeds
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Directions
1. On a chopping board, cut your pumpkins into half and scoop out the seeds and fiber. You can use any smallish pumpkin such as sugar pie pumpkin or kabocha squash.
2. Transfer them onto a lined baking tray, either facing down or upwards (I find that facing down helps make the pumpkin even softer—I guess the middle part of the pumpkin creates a gap in between to help absorb the moisture even more but both ways work).
3. Drizzle with some olive oil alongside your chopped onion and garlic.
4. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to season and bake at 170c for 30–45 minutes (depending on your oven) until your pumpkins are fork-pierced soft.
5. While waiting, peel your ginger—I like using a teaspoon.
6. Next prepare your blender and a pot on site.
7. When everything is baked, pop everything into the blender and add your vegetable stock gradually cup by cup until you reach your desired consistency.
8. Then place the puree into the pot and bring to a low simmer.
9. Add your miso paste and stir until dissolved.
10. Top your soup with the reserved coconut cream, drizzle around with some sesame oil and sprinkle some black sesame seeds and enjoy!
Notes:
– I like keeping the scraps of the vegetables such as the fiber and seeds of the pumpkin, the skin of the onion and garlic and the peels of the ginger and freeze them in a bag until it is fully packed to make my own vegetable stock (simply just bring them to a low simmer covered with water for 30 minutes or longer if you want more depth of flavor to your stock).
– If you don’t have coconut cream, you can also use coconut milk and add it according to your taste buds.
– If you want more miso taste, add 1 more tbsp of miso paste but I find 1 tbsp is enough for me as I don’t want it to overpower the pumpkin taste who is the star of this soup!
– Feel free to play around with your toppings, either add some chopped spring onion or simply add some coriander leaves for a more minimalistic look. Or play around with the coconut cream to create pretty swirls.
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Photo: Bel Faustino
