WINTER FOOD!

I hope you’re excited about this recipe as I am 😀 If this isn’t the first time you’re following my blog, you know by now that some of my recipes are highly influenced by my experiences with my friends. That’s why I have been thinking of doing a “Friends’ Recipe Session” for this blog, and this recipe can loosely be counted as the first one.

“Friends’ recipe 1: Pumpkin Soup”
I was in desperate need of soup for the cold rainy nights. And one day I went to the supermarket and found some really pretty looking kabochas displayed in the fruit and veggies area. Naturally, I just grabbed one without knowing what to do with it. So I asked two of my friends, Sessy and Takeshi, because they are the very people who are experienced in the making of pumpkin soup and I asked for some pointers. In the end, I still ended up experimenting with the recipe and everyone around me were quite satisfied with the outcome. At least I know, I don’t have to pay around $5 for a bowl of okay-tasting pumpkin soup from some okay-restaurant from now on.

*OH! Get some garlic bread before making this… you’ll thank me later 😉

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

What you’ll need:

For the purée:
– Half a pumpkin (I used a Japanese pumpkin one called Kabocha, but I also tried one with a regular orange-coloured pumpkin and they’re both very pleasant, there aren’t many differences with the taste as well)
– 1 whole onion, chopped
– 3 cloves of garlic, chopped

For the soup:
– 3 cups of water
– 1 small pack of chicken stock (around 2-3 cube blocks)
– 1 cup milk
– 250 ml whipping cream
– a small cube of butter
– Salt
– Pepper
– Garlic powder
– Ground oregano
– Cornstarch (optional, if needed)

Clean the pumpkin, remove the seeds and pulp thoroughly. Cut the pumpkin in medium pieces.

Steam the pumpkin pieces for about 10-15 minutes (you can boil them too if you don’t have the steamer but it might take a little longer).

Once they’re soften, clean the skin off the pumpkin pieces.

For the purée, add the pumpkin with chopped onion and chopped garlic in a blender. Blend them for 1-2 minutes.

Boil the water in a soup pot, add the chicken stock and stir in medium to high heat.

Add the pumpkin purée, keep stirring.

Add salt and pepper, stir in for another minute or two.

Strain the soup mixture into another pot (bigger one) to remove stringy pieces and pulp.

Once you’ve strained the mixture, it should look something watery like this. Lower the heat to medium-low.

 

Stir in the milk and 2/3 of cream. Add butter, garlic powder, oregano, and parsley to your preferences.

Stir the soup for another 2 minutes, if you think the consistency is too watery you can add a mix of cornstarch and water to the mixture (optional).

And you’re done… Serve with the leftover cream as garnish and some parsley and enjoy!

Cold night was SAVED! My family loved it and it became another instant favorite along with my hamburger helper. My nieces kept asking for refills and I’m telling you, that moment, was an AMAZING feeling.

PS. Shoutout to Sessy though, she’s teaching in a rural area for now and it’s hard to have access to these ingredients, but she’s still nice enough to give me pointers and tips like how you should also get some garlic breads to go with this soup. I didn’t get any then but next time I’m making this, I’m definitely gonna make some garlic breads too!

 

Because pumpkin spice lattes are soooo 2012,
TLMC