Pumpkin soup bursting with flavors
A simple pumpkin soup with sweet and earthy flavors lends itself well to experimenting with flavor profiles from different cuisines. In this recipe, we have chosen to find inspiration in the immensely popular Thai cuisine by adding lemongrass and ginger and garnishing with coriander.
Our recipe also calls for the use of bay leaves, which infuse the dish with a subtle bitterness that prevents it from becoming too heavy, and freshly squeezed lemon juice to brighten it as well. This combination of ingredients results in a flavour-packed soup and a delicious, multi-faceted eating experience.
Thai-inspired with ginger and lemongrass
As mentioned, this recipe is heavily influenced by Thai cuisine. The addition of lemongrass gives it a wonderfully fresh, citrussy flavor with hints of mint, while the ginger brings a pronounced, warm spice flavor with a peppery taste to the soup.
The sharpness of both the ginger and lemongrass complement the mellow sweetness of the pumpkin and their aroma gives this ginger pumpkin soup a terrific, delightful smell that will fill up your kitchen as you cook it.
Serve with cooking cream and herbs
This recipe is not complete without a selection of delicious toppings, and a zingy pumpkin soup goes well with cooking cream and fresh coriander leaves.
The creamy cooking cream as well as the citrussy coriander add a layer of freshness. They also leave a cooling sensation on the palate which works nicely with the warming flavours of this pumpkin and ginger soup.
Serve the dish with bread, for example, wholemeal bread, sourdough bread, or even a decorative, round sunflower seed bread to complete the meal.
Choose the best pumpkin
The best pumpkins for soups are firm and hard in the flesh as varieties with softer flesh tend to make soups watery rather than thick and creamy. While you can, of course use field pumpkin, you will get a more flavorful result if you choose a butternut squash or Hokkaido.
A Hokkaido pumpkin soup will have scrumptious, sweet nutty undertones. One made with butternut squash will, too, as it tastes similar to sweet potatoes. As a bonus, the thin skin of these pumpkins does not need to be removed, making the whole thing easy to work with.
Regardless of which variety you select, seek out hard, heavy, and blemish-free pumpkins that make a hollow sound when you knock on them.
Make a spicy pumpkin soup
To add some heat to this flavorful dish, add either fresh chilli or chilli flakes or powder to it. The kick this will bring to your homemade pumpkin soup is sure to make your tastebuds tingle!
Aromatic spices like turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon are also popular in Thai cuisine and will be great choices for spicy Thai-inspired soups like this one. If you do not want to spend too much time making the perfect mix of herbs or spices for pumpkin soup with ginger and lemongrass, you can easily opt for preprepared ones like the Indian garam masala or the Chinese five spice mix.
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