Sunday 10 November 2013

Pumpkin with Minced Meat and Soya Bean Paste


I was talking to my mum many weeks ago and asked her for her pumpkin curry recipe. After giving me her recipe, mum mentioned that pumpkin is also very nice cooked with soya bean paste (taucheow). I have eaten brinjals cooked with soya bean paste but not pumpkin. And by the way, I love pumpkin! So does my mum.

I have eaten pumpkin cooked with dried prawns at the mixed rice (chap fan) stall. Every time that dish is available, I would always scoop extra helpings. I cannot resist pumpkins. They are sweet and creamy and there's no denying that I am addicted to them.


It's great that pumpkins are sold in wedges and that saves me from having to buy a whole pumpkin. My only complaint about pumpkin is that they are difficult to peel. Which was why I rarely cook pumpkin. But recently I learnt from Ivy that you can actually eat the skin. Now, isn't that wonderful? Make sure that you wash the skin thoroughly before cutting the pumpkin.


Since I don't have a recipe for the pumpkin dish mentioned by my mum, I have come up with something which I think comes quite close. I used minced pork, onions, garlic, ginger and soya bean paste. 


The dish turned out very well and I was so happy. It was delicious and I could just eat it on its own. I should have cooked the pumpkin just a little bit longer as the skin was not yet as tender as the flesh. This point will be duly noted in my next pumpkin dish. If you are a pumpkin lover, I hope that you will give this recipe a go. I promise you that you will love it!









Pumpkin with Minced Meat and Soya Bean Paste
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :
- 730g pumpkin, cut into cubes
- 200g minced pork
- 1 big onion, diced
- 3 big cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tbsp soya bean paste (taucheow)
- 1 tbsp light soya sauce
- 1 tsp thick soya sauce
- some water for simmering

To thicken the sauce :
- 1 tsp potato starch or cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water

Method :
1. Heat oil in wok and saute onions until soft and translucent.
2. Add garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant.
3. Add soya bean paste and continue to saute until fragrant.
4. Add minced meat and fry until the meat turns opaque.
5. Add pumpkins, light soya sauce and thick soya sauce.
6. Stir to combine.
7. Add some water and cover the wok. Simmer until pumpkins are tender.
8. Add potato starch mixture to thicken the gravy.
9. Dish out and garnish with spring onions.

41 comments:

  1. I like the pumpkin dish. Can i add one bowl rice ? : )

    Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hi Joceline! Hee,,hee,,,can! This dish is so appetizing you need more rice :)

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  2. Too bad my family dislike pumpkin in dishes. Looking at this recipe feel like making some for myself. For vegetarian version, what dishes will you suggest if pumpkin is the star ingredient? Thinking cooking for my father whom is vegetarian.

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    1. Hi Vivian! So sad they don't like pumpkin. For vegetarian version, you can leave out the minced meat and it will taste just as good!

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    2. Thanks. Will try out when I have the pumpkin. Have a nice day!

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    3. You are welcome, Vivian!

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  3. We usually just steam pumpkin in our house, and my daughter loves eating the skin as well. This looks flavorful!

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    1. Hi Yen! Yes, steaming is also nice. Roasted even better!

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  4. That's new! We usually fry with sambal belacan. Just baking it in the oven, also nice...provided the pumpkin is good - very sweet.

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    1. Oh yah Arthur, I want to try the one with sambal belacan and the one with cangkuk manis that I saw on your blog. Quite a few things can be done with pumpkins. They are so tasty!

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  5. Oh my....I never knew the skin can be eaten. I wanted to jump to comment to ask you why you are lazy to peel off the skin to cook this dish and not knowing and read your intro of this post. This dish is really a comfort meal.

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    1. Mel, hah! hah! actually I lazy to peel the skin and so happy when I found out the skin can be eaten :)

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  6. Pumpkin is power food, more so when it is diabetic safe.

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    1. I was pleasantly surprised to find pumpkin in the Atkins list of allowable foods. Though it has carbohydrates but it is not as bad as potatoes. Yippee!!

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  7. Pumpkin is a good and healthy food. I still have a quarter of pumpkin in my fridge, maybe can cook like yours :) thanks Phong Hong !

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    1. Hi Esther! Yes, hope you try this dish and let me know if you like it :)

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  8. Hello Ph.Lama tak singgah ke blog Ph ni kerana kesuntukan masa.Cm pun suka Pumpkin .Masak lemak,masak bening dan tumis dengan sos tiram.Pertama kali baca yang pumpkin dapat di masak dengan taucu.Kena cuba jugak ni :)

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    1. Hi CM! PH suka makan pumpkin sebab ia lemak manis gitu. Kalau masak lemak best. Makan dengan sambal belacan boleh tambah nasi!

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  9. Phong Hong I jankek you I also love pumpkin I love this dis but never make it I saw something like this in a Taiwanese cooking show pandai mu ni

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    1. EE, mummy said Poh-Poh LW cooked like this and it looks good.

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  10. This is interesting... I like the sweetness from the pumpkin

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    1. Victoria, me too! Want to try baking with pumpkin soon :)

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  11. I totally love pumpkin and I would love to try your pumpkin recipe!

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  12. Hi Phong Hong, I bought 1 whole pumpkin and was wondering what to do with it. I'll cook this over the weekend. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Kimmy, let me know if you like this dish because I loved it a lot!

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    2. Hi PH, already cooked two times. Served with rice and porridge. What do you think is the verdict? Good-lah. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. I too love pumpkin and love that dried shrimp dish you mentioned... I would cook a plate and eat it for a meal since the rest of my family members are not so keen on this. More for me:D Got to try this delicious looking way of cooking pumpkin too.

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    1. Jeannie, do try it, Very flavoursome and delicious :)

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  14. Haven't tried minced pork with pumpkin, only with brinjal. Yours look easy to whip up. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Cheah, I hope that you try it. If you like the brinjal version, you'll like this too.

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  15. sounds very unusual combo dear.. thanks for sharing..

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    1. PT, it was so good that I had to share it!

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  16. i like pumpkin too, nice dish, yum yum yum....

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    1. Thanks! I want to cook more dishes with pumpkin.

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  17. i am also a pumpkin lover..i nvr tried with tauchoo, most of the time stir fry with dried prawns too and with skins on as well! If you want to hv a look, here it is
    http://herfrozenwings.blogspot.com/2012/02/chinese-style-stir-fry-pumpkin-with.html

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    Replies
    1. Lena, thanks for the link. That is the dish that I love at chap fan stall. I can't get tired of it!

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  18. Hi Phong Hong, your minced meat soya beans pumpkin is so tempting! I can have 2 bowls of rice! Oh yeah, thanks for mentioning me, Do have a great week ahead :)

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    1. Ivy, thanks to you, now I don't have to bersusah-payah to peel the skin Hah! Hah!

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  19. My mom used to cook young pumpkin within it's skin too, usually in rich curry..
    this minced meat and soya bean sauce made it delicious even more.....

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    1. Oh, with curry it must be even more delicious! I would like to try that next :)

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