The soup files - White pumpkin soup

I'm a sucker for soup. Ever since I was little I went crazy for all kinds of vegetable soups. As a young child I was already very independent. Supposedly I always ate my soup by myself, with my hands. Covering myself with the soup, from head till toe.

Me eating soup with my hands, age 3

Autumn is going on for some time already. The wind is heavier and starts to bite. The rain pours down more often. The leaves fall down. So the more heavier and more earthy vegetables and flavors are coming around. More mushrooms, pumpkins, root vegetables and winter cabbages are getting available in stores.

A few weeks ago my mom and I went to the local farmer. Outside of the farm shop there was a big crate filled with pumpkins. Orange, green and white pumpkins. Giant orange pumpkins, green musk pumpkins and white pattypans. Normally we always have orange pumpkins, but this time we bought a white pattypan. When I cut into the pumpkin I was very surprised. Maybe I was a bit ignorant, but I never thought of the fact that when it is white on the outside it also should be white on the inside. Fairly surprised I started to collect all the ingredients for my pumpkin soup.

Normally I make a easy orange pumpkin soup. Just pumpkin, onion, stock and cilantro. For some months I was thinking about making a more complex pumpkin soup, more Asian inspired, using flavors from southeast Asia. Because the pumpkin was white, I gave myself a challenge. Making a white pumpkin soup. The idea of a white pumpkin soup made me very excited. What a surprise would it be, telling my family and friends we will eat pumpkin soup, and then they will get a white soup. I already imagined all the confused faces.

White pumpkin soup
1 white pattypan pumpkin
1 onion
3 gloves of garlic
3-5 cm of fresh ginger
2 tablespoons of oil
1 liter of stock, chicken of herb
250-500 ml of coconutmilk
1 stalk of lemongrass
6 curry leaves
1/2-1 green chilli

To dress up the soup:
1/4 daikon
1 onion
200 grams of raw shrimp
A hand full of fresh cilantro

Clean and cut the pumpkin. I use the pumpkin skin on, but you can also peel it, but when using the skin wash it thoroughly. Chop the ginger, garlic and onions. Warm a soup pan on medium heat. Put in the oil, when hot add the onion, ginger and garlic. Sautee and after 2-3 minutes add the pumpkin. After 2-5 minutes add the stock. Pound the lemongrass, so the flavors of the core will come out. Add the lemon grass, curry leaves and chilli. The lemongrass, curry leaves and chilli can stay whole, because it is only in to infuse the soup. Let it cook for around 10 minutes. Pour in half the coconutmilk. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Then taste, season if necessary. Check if the pumpkin is cooked through. If not, cook until the pumpkin is done. If you want to make it milder you can now poor in the rest of the coconutmilk. If you like the flavor, leave it like this.

Take out the chilli, lemongrass and curry leaves, set aside. Now blits the soup, I always use a hand blender, making it easier to just blits in the pan. Blits until the soup is smooth. If you find the soup to thick, add some water. Bring back to a simmer.

At this point the soup is already great and yummy. But if you want to go the extra mile you can dress up the soup. Chop an onion, dice the daikon and add to the soup. Let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes. In the meanwhile clean and peel your shrimp. Let it marinade in pepper and salt, you can spruce it up with a teaspoon of fish sauce or soy sauce. Heat and oil a skillet, panfry the shrimp in a few minutes. Add a splash of water or a squeeze of lemonjuice in the pan. When done, take out of the pan and set aside. Chop the cilantro stalks, leaving the leaves whole.

Going back to the soup. Check if the daikon is cooked. Take out the lemongrass, chilli and curry leaves. To serve, ladle in the soup. Place some shrimp in the middle, add some cilantro and it is good to go! Enjoy!