Clear Pumpkin Soup with Watercress
When one says “Pumpkin Soup”, I tend to think of thick, rich and creamy vegetable soups. Not this recipe. This pumpkin soup is clear and sweet, with slices of meat, tender greens and soft, melt-in-the-mouth pumpkin pieces. An easy recipe with about 30 minutes of active cooking time, this Clear Pumpkin Soup with Watercress is perfect for the family meal.
Ingredients
Pumpkin and watercress are the main ingredients for this recipe. Their inclusion adds a depth of natural sweetness to the soup. The pumpkin gives the soup a creamy taste. Be sure to cook them until easily cut into half with a spoon – that is when the pumpkin is tender and very soft. On the other hand, the watercress cooks very fast – it only needs 1 minute to cook, and becomes tender with just the residual heat.
I used thinly sliced pork shoulder, lobster balls and seafood tofu as the meat. However, sliced boneless chicken thighs also work well. While the lobster balls and seafood tofu release a little flavour into the soup, they are not a necessity. By adding additional protein, my family members can enjoy this Clear Pumpkin Soup as a wholesome meal that comes with both protein and fibres.
For the seasonings, I added salt, pepper, oyster sauce and sesame oil. All these amounts can be adjusted according to preference. In fact, the oyster sauce adds a depth of umami and body to the soup – it can be easily omitted, or substituted with chicken stock or chicken powder. Sesame oil adds a light, appetising fragrance to the soup as well.
I have also added shimeji mushrooms to the pumpkin soup as well – but feel free to omit it, or substitute with other mushrooms such as enoki or oyster mushrooms, or even with other vegetables such as sweet (baby) corn, carrot sticks or even snowpeas.
Steps
Here are the brief steps to make the Clear Pumpkin Soup with Watercress:
- Cut and clean watercress.
- Cut the pumpkin into bite-sized pieces.
- Marinate the pork slices and set aside.
- Bring the water, all the seasonings and the pumpkin to a boil.
- Add the pork slices and boil for 15 minutes.
- Check if the pumpkin is soft.
- Add seafood tofu, crab balls and shimeji mushrooms and bring the soup to a rolling boil.
- Give the soup a taste.
- Add watercress and boil for 1 minute.
Tips
- Watercress and pumpkin are the main ingredients. Each of them adds an intense natural sweetness to the soup to be enjoyed.
- Adding meat to the soup increases its flavour – pork can be substituted with another type of white meat, like chicken.
- Slicing the meat thinly results in faster cooking time and tender chew.
- When the pumpkin is soft, the rest of the ingredients can be added in as the pumpkin takes the longest time to cook.
- If preferred, the water and oyster sauce can be replaced with chicken stock or chicken powder. Be sure to adjust the salt if doing so.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!
Storage Instructions
Leftovers should be cooled completely before storing them in a leakproof container in the fridge. This Clear Pumpkin Soup can be kept in this manner overnight, to be fully consumed the next day. It is not recommended to store the soup for longer as the mushrooms and pumpkin can become stale.
Not recommended to freeze.
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Clear Pumpkin Soup with Watercress
Equipment
- stockpot
- Ladle
- Food Tongs
- Knife
- Chopping Board
Ingredients
- 350 g watercress, young
- 400 g pumpkin
- 170 g pork shoulder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 litres water
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
- 150 g lobster balls
- 120 g seafood tofu
- 50 g shimeji mushroom
Instructions
- Clean the watercress, plucking the young stems and removing the hard stems. Set aside.
- Cut the pumpkin into wedges. Remove the skin and cut into smaller cubes.
- Marinate the pork with 1/8 tsp of salt, rubbing evenly. Add another 1/8 tsp of salt and rub until well-combined. Set aside.
- Fill a stockpot with all the water, the remaining salt, pepper, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and pumpkin cubes. Stir gently to mix the seasonings with the soup. Set the stove to medium heat. Cover the pot and let it boil for 10 minutes, or until it starts boiling.
- Add all the marinated pork, stirring to separate them. Cover the pot and let the soup boil for 15 minutes.
- With a spoon, cut a piece of pumpkin into half. If the spoon is able to cut it, the pumpkin is cooked and soft.
- Add the lobster balls, seafood tofu and shimeji mushrooms. Stir to distribute the ingredients evenly. Cover the pot and let it cook for another 5 minutes, or until the soup comes to a rolling boil.
- Taste and adjust as preferred.
- Add the watercress. Cover the pot and let it boil for another minute.
- Dish out the soup and serve.
Video
Notes
- Watercress and pumpkin are the main ingredients. Each of them adds an intense natural sweetness to the soup to be enjoyed.
- Adding meat to the soup increases its flavour – pork can be substituted with another type of white meat, like chicken.
- Slicing the meat thinly results in faster cooking time and tender chew.
- When the pumpkin is soft, the rest of the ingredients can be added in as the pumpkin takes the longest time to cook.
- If preferred, the water and oyster sauce can be replaced with chicken stock or chicken powder. Be sure to adjust the salt if doing so.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!
- Let it cool completely before refrigerating the soup in a leak-proof container. It can be kept until the next day only.
- Heat it up until it comes to a rolling boil before consuming.
- Not recommended to freeze.