My Own Pumpkin Soup

Cut the pumpkin up nicely.

Cook the pumpkin in just enough water. ( e.g. 1 cup pumpkin with l cup water) Or if you like steam the pumpkin

Blend the cooked pumpkin.


In the months of January and Febrary this year the floods took away a lot of home grown and tamu oriented vegetables. With fresh imported vegetables being also too pricey and more often then not - "not -really- that- fresh" discerning homemakers looked at other sources for fresh vegetables. I went further afield to buy vegetables if and when and where I could.

One wonderful source would be roadside kampong stalls. Pumpkins especially can keep for a long time. Sometimes up to one year. I have tried cooking pumpkin in many different ways and my children love them. Perhaps it is a vegetable not many urbanite might prefer but it is one vegetable they should try to eat more. Indeed my friend humourously remarked that in Australia pumpkin is a main vegetable on a plate where mum would also put a green one (capcicum or brocoli) a white one (cauliflower) and an orange one (pumpkin(. In the United States pumpkin is always made into a popular soup especially for the year end festive seasons. But in Britain pumpkin has been fed to the pigs!

I must say in my own Foochow family (for three generations in Sibu) pumpkin has always been one of our most popular vegetables and I personally call it my all time favourite. So do my children. We cook this wonderful vegetable in as many ways as possible and enjoy it to the last drop.

Making a simple thick creamy western soup is also a good and healthy way. Here is the recipe. It is really that simple!! And you can even take out the oil!

1 red or bombay onion - chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil/butter
l.5 kg pumpkin - cut and cooked with l slice of ginger then mashed slightly (or 1 cup for one person)
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar (optional)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (from bottle)
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cup full cream milk

Blend the chopped onions and pumpkin.

Put the blended pumpkin into the pan. Add salt, nutmeg and pepper. Slowly add chicken broth and heat thoroughly.
Add full cream milk and cook slowly until some water has evaporated and to the consistency you like.
Serve in a soup bowl.
Makes for about 6 person.

(To make a richer soup add some cream or yoghurt before serving)

This soup can be served hot or cold.

I recommend cooking pumpkin soup when you get a really nice orange and thick fleshed pumpkin. The soup would be very rich and absolutely amazing!

Enjoy!