Kiem Recipe (Vietnamese Vegetarian Pumpkin Soup)

This year, the Asian New Year celebration (called Tết in Vietnamese) will happen during the first week of February, according to the Lunar calendar. I've mentioned in the past that, traditionally, you're required to eat vegetarian food (ăn chay) on the last day of the previous year and the first day of New Year.

Today, I'm sharing a vegan dish called kiểm that's a staple during the celebration. The dish is a sweet, savory soup made of pumpkin, bananas, coconut milk, mung beans, lotus seeds, wood ear mushrooms, sweet potatoes, ginger, tofu and raw peanuts. This is not a very common dish and it's only made for the celebration. If you know its origin, please let me know in the feedback section.

The winner of this week's giveaway is Amanda O. Congratulations and I hope you enjoy using my first cookbook about gourmet potato dishes as much I did developing the recipes!

Roasted Pumpkin Soup Recipe

We're finally back home to the Bay Area after our trip to Europe. Surprisingly, the weather in Paris was a lot warmer and more pleasant than California. It's been raining quite a bit here. With Halloween coming, I picked up 3 small pumpkins and made comforting creamy pumpkin soup to ward off the cold.

The preparation is fairly easy: roast the pumpkins, add a little molasses, puréed sunflower seeds and cream and you're good to go. I paired the soup with grilled slices of baguette bread, so my husband Lulu and I could reminisce about the wonderful time we just had in Paris. I'll be posting a lot of photos of our recent trip very soon. Stay tuned!

Canh Bi Do Tom Recipe (Vietnamese Pumpkin and Shrimp Soup)

Canh bí đỏ nấu tôm tươi literally translates to "pumpkin soup cooked with fresh shrimp". The natural sweetness from the shrimp pairs wonderfully with pumpkin. My mom’s trick to give the shrimp a better consistency is to blend in a few baby squid with the shrimp. If that scares you, you can omit it; the soup will still be yummy.

Soup is the quintessential Vietnamese comfort food, and this is a very tasty example. It is but one of many variations of soups that are served as a component of a typical Vietnamese meal. Traditionally, a Vietnamese meal is composed of jasmine rice, a meat or seafood dish and a bowl of soup on the side. If you’re planning a Vietnamese feast, consider serving it with grilled chicken.

Saffron Pumpkin Soup Served in Mini Pumpkin Bowls

I remember having a delicious velouté de potiron au safran in a French restaurant back when I was still living in Paris. I remembered it had a very nice earthy flavor of pumpkin, chanterelles, walnuts and saffron. The flavors are perfect for Thanksgiving, and given the season, I thought I'd try to recreate it.

I roasted the pumpkin to enhance and accentuate the sweetness without overpowering the soup. Instead of using potatoes as a thickening agent as I normally do, I decided to add pan-fried plantains to complement the sweetness of the pumpkin.

To match the elegant flavors of the soup, I created bowls out of mini-pumpkins for serving. The final result was as visually appealing as it was delicious, and met with a round of "oohs" and "ahs" when I brought it to the dinner table. It's a great first course, and best of all, there aren't any plates to wash when everyone's done!