Pumpkin Rice Laksa Soup

Bangkok doesn’t get many cool days but when the temperature dips to 21c overnight, it’s chilly in the morning (northern parts of Thailand can get as low as 10c-12c)! Yes I know, why would a hardy Canadian like me say 21c is chilly? I’ve been living in a tropical climate for 11 years where the average is 30c so when it dipped to 21c last month, I felt it. Anyway, I’ve been wanting to make a soup and this recipe has not only heat from the stove but also a little bite from the chili pepper! Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from Peranakan culture also known as Baba and Nyonya, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore.

Serves 4-6
recipe from Jamie Oliver’s book, Jamie’s Dinners

600g pumpkin, butternut squash, onion squash or acorn squash, halved, peeled and deseeded
a small handful of lime leaves
2–3 chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled
3 sticks of lemongrass, outer leaves removed
a large handful of fresh coriander, leaves picked, stalks chopped
1 heaped teaspoon five-spice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
olive oil
1 white onion, peeled and finely sliced
565ml chicken or vegetable stock, preferably organic
200g basmati rice
2 x 400ml tins of coconut milk
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1 or 2 limes

First of all you need to chop the pumpkin flesh into 2inch pieces. To make your fragrant soup base, first chop, then whiz or bash up the following in your food processor or pestle and mortar until you have a pulpy mix: the lime leaves, chillies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, coriander stalks, five-spice and cumin. Remove any stringy bits that may remain in the pulp. Put this fragrant mixture into a high-sided pan with a little oil and your finely sliced onion and cook gently for about 10 minutes to release the flavours.

Add the pumpkin and the stock to the pan. Stir around, scraping all the goodness off the bottom of the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 15 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. At this point, add the rice and give it a really good stir. Some of the pumpkin will begin to mush up, but you’ll also have some chunks. Continue to simmer with the lid on until the rice is cooked, then off comes the lid. Add the coconut milk, stir again, taste and season carefully with salt and pepper. To give it a bit of sharpness add the lime juice – the amount will depend on how juicy your limes are, but the idea is to give the soup a little twang.

Serve the soup in warmed bowls or pour it back into the pumpkin shell. If you’re going to do this, put the pumpkin shell into the oven to warm it through first. It’s a great show-stopper for dinner parties. Finish sprinkled with the coriander leaves, or some extra sliced fresh chilli, or grate over some fresh coconut if you have it.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: Beautiful! The flavors here mingle well to produce an absolutely mouth watering soup. I used 400ml of coconut milk as I felt 2 cans would overpower the other aromas and spices. I wasn’t able to find 5 spice here so I omitted it.