One of the more memorable dishes I tried during a recent trip to Taiwan was a pumpkin and sweet potato soup with soft clouds of peanut dumplings. My recipe is a homage to this, but with the twist of a fried garlic, onion, and turmeric tadka.
I stand firm in my belief that soup is a year round dish (fiery chilli bombs are especially welcome in hot weather), but this one is particularly suited to autumn and winter. The dumplings are optional, but I think you'll appreciate the combination of sweetness from the pumpkin and sweet potato with the rich fattiness of the nuts.
Zen Tea vegetarian restaurant in Taipei is a modern space with a menu featuring vegetarian takes on traditional Chinese cuisine. I loved their version of this soup, but mine diverges in many ways. Their soup was thin, where I opted for a thicker texture with the option to thin out if desired.
Additionally, their dumplings were softer, but I wanted something that held up during reheating and so I opted for a dumpling take on khao raem fun, a Shan-Thai peanut tofu of sorts (you can see it pictured on this page - I serve it on one of my supper club menus).
Finally, I loved their use of fried shallots but I craved a stronger flavour in my version. That's why I opted for tadka (also called tarka, among other things, an Indian cooking technique that involves tempuring spices in hot oil). Oil + aromatics and spices + heat = a powerful vehicle for building and delivering flavour. A little bit goes a long way, with little effort.
Fried shallots and shallot oil, as well as garlic oil, are regular ingredients in my day to day cooking. They pair well with just about everything, so I chose to layer these flavours along with a little bit of cumin seed.
Instructions for tadka
One thing I can't stand about modern food blogging is how much redundancy posts contain. For me, photos and text are necessary for two things: as instructional tools and to tell a story. Ten pictures of the same dish from different angles and paragraphs replete with SEO-worthy text is just hot air and too much scrolling, perhaps followed by a recipe that may or may not work.
I try to avoid this, but sometimes photos and illustrations are useful tools in explaining a process. Case in point: the way garlic and onion caramelise when frying, and when to know the point at which you've got to remove it from the heat before it gets bitter and burns.
There is something particularly expressive about fried onion and garlic oils. The trick is finding the sweet spot between crispy and caramelised but not burnt. I'm attaching a few photos to show how the the colour and appearance of the garlic and onion changes as it fries, and when it's time to remove it from the stovetop.
Fry the minced onion in oil for a couple minutes before adding the garlic.
You'll see the colour change slowly to golden.
Continue to cook until everything looks like this and then add the cumin.
Cook for another 20 seconds until crispy and light brown. Add lime juice and take off the heat at this point to avoid burning.
Storage and reheating
The soup will keep for a week or so in the fridge, possibly longer. If I'm not eating right away, I prefer to make the soup very thick and dilute it with water or stock when I heat portions up. This saves space in my fridge which, despite my household only containing two people, is completely jammed at all times.
The dumplings can be stored separately or with the soup. When you reheat the soup, be careful stirring to avoid breaking the dumplings up (but don't worry too much because they're pretty sturdy).
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin and sweet potato soup (with peanut dumplings)
Ingredients
Soup
- Vegetable oil
- 625 grams pumpkin kabocha or similar variety, cut into 2-3 inch wedges
- 370 grams sweet potato peeled and cut into 1 inch rounds
- Rounded ¼ cup finely diced onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1125 millilitres water
- 125 millilitres oat milk
- 2 teaspoons salt
Peanut dumplings
- 100 grams peanuts soaked overnight
- 275 millilitres water
- 40 grams rice flour
- 30 grams potato starch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Rounded ⅛ teaspoon MSG (there's no evidence it's bad for you so add it to your spice cupboard already)
Tadka
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or vegan butter or a combination of both
- 2 ½ tablespoons finely minced onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
Instructions
Make the soup
- Preheat the oven to 200 C fan. Coat the pumpkin and squash with vegetable oil and roast for about 40 minutes. You’ll know they’re cooked when they're a little bit caramelised and you can easily pierce the with a fork or knife.
- Depending on the pumpkin, you can either remove the flesh from the skin or keep the skin on. Blend the pumpkin, sweet potato, water, oat milk, and salt in a blender or food processor.
- Heat 2-3 teaspoons of oil and fry the onion and garlic for 3-5 minutes, until translucent and fragrant. Pour the blended soup into the pan. Keep the heat on low to keep the soup warm.
- If you want a thinner soup, add more water and salt to taste.
Make the dumplings
- Use a blender to liquidise water, rice flour, potato starch, soaked peanuts, salt, and MSG into a smooth paste.
- Pour into a nonstick pan and heat to medium high. Cook, stirring constantly, until the batter thickens and comes together into a thick, oily dough.
- Leave to cool slightly (until cool enough to handle) and then use a half tablespoon to form into rough balls. If the dough is sticking to the spoon, try dipping it in water first. Place the dumplings on a plate or sheet to use later.
Make the tadka
- Heat oil and/or butter to medium heat in a small pan or skillet. Nonstick is easiest. Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until the aromatics begin turning golden and crispy. Add cumin seeds and cook for 20 seconds. Turn off the heat, pour into a heatproof bowl, and immediately add the lime or lemon juice.
Dish up
- Spoon the soup into bowls and place a few dumplings in each. Drizzle some of the tadka over top and serve. You can chuck on some fresh herbs if you're trying to use up wilted green stuff in the fridge.
More soup recipes
Can't get enough soup? Try these vegan soup recipes too, if you can be arsed:
