Thai-Style Pumpkin Soup

 Some of the raw ingredients for Thai-Style Pumpkin Soup -

pumpkin, lime, lemongrass and (optional) kaffir lime leaves.

At last! (as promised in my Ugly Pumpkin post in March) the recipe for Thai-Style Pumpkin Soup. It is a smooth but not thick soup - ideal for sipping from a mug.
Key ingredients to give it a Thai flavour are coconut cream, limes and lemongrass. We'll never be able to grow coconuts in New Zealand, but limes are possible in open ground in most coastal parts of the North Island, and in sheltered places and large pots in the South Island. Lemongrass likes lots of warmth and water - I grow mine in a pot year round, in the glasshouse. It can be grown outside in frost-free places in the North Island. Kaffir lime leaves I also grow in a pot in a sheltered place, and pick and crush a leaf from time to time just to enjoy the intense lime fragrance. Kaffir lime leaves can be used in South-East Asian dishes in the way bay leaves are used in European cookery - to flavour the dish while it is cooking and be removed before service.

I was first served this soup while on a meditation retreat at the beautiful Sangsurya Retreat in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Having checked with the cook that I had guessed the ingredients correctly, when I got home I went hunting for a recipe on the web, and found one on the Kin Jay Festival blog. The Kin Jay festival is a ten day vegetarian festival held annually in Phuket in southern Thailand in October. The Kin Jay blog has some seriously delicious recipes for healthy foods. The recipe for the soup (which I have adapted slightly), says about it:

" Pumpkin has a particular affinity with coconut cream, and so is superb in coconut-based curries and soups like this one. Pumpkin and Coconut Cream Vegetarian Thai Soup is menu for vegetarian and most famous of Thailand, it’s easy for cooking and delicious. And then use in period Kin Jay festival. That is good idea for Vegan.''

Judging by the requests for the recipe I got when I served this soup as part of a pre-concert dinner for two choirs recently, I can say that is a good idea for non-vegans as well. Enjoy!

THAI-STYLE PUMPKIN SOUP

Ingredients

6 cups pumpkin, peeled and cut into small cubes

(or 4 cups pumpkin, 2 cups sweet potato) (c. 900g total)

2 cups water

small piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 T lemongrass, finely chopped

2 spring onions, white parts only, finely chopped

2 cups (1x 400 ml can) coconut cream

1 t salt

¼ t white pepper

freshly squeezed juice of 2 limes (or more, to taste)

finely grated lime zest OR 2 fresh kaffir limes leaves, finely shredded

Method

In a large saucepan combine the pumpkin, water, ginger and lemongrass.

Simmer until the pumpkin is soft – around 15 minutes. Add the spring onions and cook briefly.

Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and blend until a smooth puree.

Add half the coconut cream and blend again.

Return to a clean pot.

Add half of the remaining coconut cream.

Season with salt and pepper, and reheat without allowing the soup to boil.

Add the lime juice and stir in.

Taste and adjust the seasoning and add more lime juice if desired.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, make a swirl with the remaining coconut cream on the top of each bowl, and garnish with the lime zest or shredded kaffir lime leaf.