Pumpkin Laksa
Regardless of the time of year, a comforting bowl of soupy rice or noodles has to be one of our family favourites. Pumpkin season is the best time for it. Unlike squash, which tends to be available all year round these days, pumpkins have a habit of breaking down completely when cooked long enough. They have a wonderfully satisfying silky texture in soups. If the warmth of pumpkin soup is heightened with some extra heat from chillies, garlic & ginger, the comfort enhanced with a tin of creamy coconut milk and the mingling flavours lifted with fresh lime juice, chopped coriander & mint, the over all effect is hard to beat.
We can only be talking here about laksa.
With its origins in Indonesia, Malaysia & China, it can be hard to find an authentic tasting laksa that is not made with fermented fish of some description. Most commonly dried shrimp will be included in the paste ingredients and fish sauce will be added at the end, to tie all of the elements together in one delightful salty tang. Over time I have played with ways to add this distinctive saltiness for vegans & vegetarians, I am pleased to share the product of much experimenting here, with the alternative ingredients listed alongside the omnivore ones.
Please don’t be daunted by the length of the ingredients list! The finishing ingredients can be tailored to your own tastes & preferences – myself, I love the amount of goodness you can pack into this dish, but as you will see from the photos, I finished mine simply with some raw spiralized courgette, some spinach, fresh coriander & some fried onions.
A version of this recipe first appeared in the A.S.Apothecary Journal
Laksa
For the paste
2 shallots, roughly chopped
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
50g of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 lemongrass stalks, hard outer leaves removed and chopped
1 fresh chilli, roughly chopped
2 dried Kashmiri chillies, roughly chopped
1 tsp of shrimp paste OR 1 tablespoon red miso paste
1 tablespoon fish sauce OR 1 tablespoon coconut aminos or tamarind
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
For the soup
700g of pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and chopped into equally sized chunks
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 shallots, peeled and sliced
1 red pepper, halved length ways, deseeded and sliced
400ml tin coconut milk
500ml vegetable stock
To finish
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce OR 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce/tamari
small bunch coriander, chopped
handful of mint leaves, chopped
200g of spinach
200g of beansprouts
5 spring onions, sliced
1 fresh red chilli, thinly sliced
1 lime, quartered
200g rice noodles, cooked to packet instructions, drained and cooled under running water
- Place all of the laksa paste ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Put your chopped pumpkin in a large roasting tray, drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in a preheated oven at 200c for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally, until softened and lightly coloured.
- Heat the oil in a large heavy based saucepan, add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes until starting to go golden on the edges. Add the sliced red pepper and cook gently for 10 minutes until soft and beginning to caramelize.
- Add the laksa paste and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the paste becomes aromatic.
- Pour the coconut milk and stock into the pan and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Meanwhile the pumpkin should be cooked. Check to make sure that it’s tender and then add to the broth in the pan.
- Use a potato masher to gently break up the pumpkin. You may choose to blend your soup smooth.
- To finish, add the sugar, fish sauce OR soy sauce/tamari, stir to combine.
- Divide your cooked and cooled rice noodles between 4 bowls.
- Scatter over a handful of spinach leaves, a handful of beansprouts, a sprinkling of chopped herbs, spring onions and chilli.
- Ladle over the roasted pumpkin and coconut broth – this will heat through your noodles and gently wilt the spinach.
- Finish with a squeeze of lime juice.
