Vegan Rustic Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

Soup

  • 1 small kabocha squash (or butternut squash, about 1.5 pounds)

  • 1 medium yellow onion

  • 1/2-inch piece ginger

  • 3-inch dry konbu kelp (for dashi or use any stock in place of water)

  • 1 tablespoon Shiokoji

  • 1 tablespoon Chickpea Miso

  • 2 cups water (or vegetable stock)

  • 2 cups oat milk(unsweetened, original, or any other plant milk)

  • Spice to taste (such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamon)

  • Salt, extra virgin olive oil

Shiokoji Mushroom

  • 1/2 pound mushroom (such as crimini, shiitake, alba, or others)

  • 2 teaspoon Shiokoji

  • As needed extra virgin olive oil

  • Optional thyme and/or rosemary (finely chopped or dried)

How to make:

  1. Cut kabocha squash in half, using a spoon, scoop out seeds from each half of the bulb; discard seeds. Cut them into a 1inch cube. Peel and cut an onion into small dice. Peel the ginger with a spoon and finely chop.

  2. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a soup pot over medium. Add onion ginger, and a pinch of. salt and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until onion is translucent and soft, 5–7 minutes.

  3. Add squash and give everything a stir to coat. Add water and konbu kelp or stock, enough to just submerge the squash, Shiokoji, and spice, then stir to combine. Raise heat to medium-high and bring soup to simmer, then lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until squash becomes really tender (almost fallen apart).

  4. Meanwhile, cook mushrooms for a garnish. Slice or cut the mushroom into bite-size. Heat a pan over medium heat, and add extra virgin olive oil, herbs(if you would like to add them), and mushrooms. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through. Transfer cooked mushroom to a bowl, add Shiokoji while it’s still warm, and set aside.

  5. Using a potato masher, mash kabocha squash in the liquid, add oat milk, and bring to simmer. Add Chickpea Miso to taste. Stir well to dissolve the miso, adjust its taste with salt if needed.

  6. Serve the soup in a bowl and top with Shiokoji mushroom.

Tips:

You might find it’s hard to cut kabocha squash since it has tough skin. To make it easier to cut, steam or bake kabocha squash in a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes, until the skin becomes soft enough to cut. I like to use coconut milk in place of oat milk to make it more Asian flavor.

(Recipe by Eri Shimizu)