Yummy Lummy

A blog about food and me

Tag: Pumpkin soup

  • Porky Pumpkin Soup

    Porky Pumpkin Soup


    Porky 🐖 Pumpkin 🎃 Soup 🥣

    After my pressure-cooker pork ribs, I had something valuable leftover, viz., the cooking liquor, enriched with passata, onion, fennel, celery, pork juices, collagen, and rendered fat, which is suitable for a rich, deeply flavoured pumpkin soup.

    This soup pairs with a slice of rye sourdough, generously trowelled with cultured butter.

    Ingredients

    For the soup

    • 1.5 kg jap pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
    • 750 mL reserved pork rib cooking liquor
    • 500 mL water (or more as needed)
    • 125 g bacon pieces
    • Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
    • Sea salt, if required
    • Greek-style yoghurt
    A photograph of a bowl with chilled pork rib cooking liquor. The surface of the fluid is solid with pork and beef fat. The fat is orange in colour. The bowl is white in colour.
    A photograph of a bowl with chilled pork rib cooking liquor. The surface of the fluid is solid with pork and beef fat.

    To serve

    • Toasted rye sourdough bread (frozen to develop resistant starch)
    • Cultured butter
    • Extra cracked black pepper
    • Chives for garnish

    Equipment

    • Cast-iron skillet
    • Pressure cooker
    • Chopping board
    • Sharp cook’s knife
    • Vegetable peeler
    • Measuring jug
    • Wooden spoon or heat-safe stirring spoon
    • Stick blender
    • Ladle
    • Soup bowls
    • Bread knife and butter knife for serving the rye sourdough with cultured butter

    Method

    1. Pressure-cook the pumpkin

    • Place the bacon pieces and some water in a skillet, then bring the water to a simmer. Keep cooking while the water evaporates and the bacon fat renders. Keep going until the bacon pieces are crispy.
    • Place the pumpkin chunks in the pressure cooker.
    • Pour in the reserved pork rib cooking liquor and the water, ensuring the total volume remains below the pressure cooker’s maximum fill line.
    • Lock the lid, bring the cooker to high pressure, and cook for 8 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then carefully release any remaining pressure before opening the lid.

    2. Blend

    • Transfer the crispy bacon pieces to the pressure cooker vessel.
    • Using a stick blender, blend the soup until smooth and velvety.
    • If the soup is too thick, add a little more water until it reaches your preferred consistency.

    3. Finish

    • Taste before adding salt. The braising liquid from the ribs may already contain enough seasoning.
    • Add plenty of cracked black pepper.
    • For a richer, tangier finish, stir through a spoonful or two of Greek-style yoghurt after blending, keeping the soup off the boil so the yoghurt stays smooth.

    4. Serve

    • Ladle the soup into warmed bowls.
    • Serve with a thick slice of toasted rye sourdough generously spread with cultured butter.
    • A final grind of black pepper over the top is a nice touch.
    • Give thanks.

    Notes from Yummy Lummy

    The fennel from the original rib cook does a lot here. Pork and fennel are best mates, and the aniseed notes complement pumpkin well. The passata adds acidity, preventing the soup from becoming overly sweet, while the collagen extracted from the ribs contributes body and a luxurious mouthfeel.

    The result is a soup that tastes much more complex than a standard pumpkin soup, with layers of savoury flavour underneath the pumpkin’s natural sweetness.

    A photograph of pumpkin soup in a black bowl with a large piece of rye sourdough that has cultured butter over it. There is also some yoghurt in the soup that you can see near the spoon. Freshly cracked black pepper is also visible on the soup.
    A photograph of pumpkin soup in a black bowl with a large piece of rye sourdough that has cultured butter over it. There is also some yoghurt in the soup that you can see near the spoon. Freshly cracked black pepper is also visible on the soup.
    A photograph of pumpkin soup in a black bowl with a large piece of rye sourdough that has cultured butter over it. There is also some yoghurt in the soup that you can see near the spoon. Freshly cracked black pepper is also visible on the soup.
    A photograph of pumpkin soup in a black bowl with a large piece of rye sourdough that has cultured butter over it. There is also some yoghurt in the soup that you can see near the spoon. Freshly cracked black pepper is also visible on the soup.

    Why This Soup Is Not Vegetarian or Vegan

    This recipe is neither vegetarian nor vegan.

    Not vegetarian

    The cooking liquor comes from pressure-cooking pork ribs. During cooking, pork juices, rendered fat, gelatine from collagen, and other animal-derived compounds enter the liquid. There’s also bacon 🥓 in it.

    Not vegan

    In addition to the pork-derived cooking liquor, the serving suggestion includes cultured butter, which is a dairy product made from milk.

    For these reasons, the recipe contains both meat-derived and dairy-derived ingredients.

    About Jap Pumpkin

    The pumpkin most Australians simply call “pumpkin” is often jap pumpkin.

    Despite the name, jap pumpkin is not actually from Japan. The term is believed to have arisen from historical references to Japanese pumpkin varieties introduced into Australia.

    Jap pumpkin typically has:

    • Dark green, mottled skin
    • Dense orange flesh
    • A naturally sweet flavour
    • A dry texture that becomes creamy when cooked

    It is one of the best pumpkins for soup because the flesh breaks down easily and produces a thick, silky result without requiring large amounts of cream.

    Information About Queensland Pumpkins

    A Microsoft Copilot generated image of a map of Queensland with a compass point for North. On the right is a coral reef beach scene in blue and on the left a Great Dividing Range scene in orange.
    Created with Microsoft Copilot.

    Queensland is one of Australia’s major pumpkin-growing regions, thanks to its warm climate and long growing season.

    I also associate Queensland pumpkin with pumpkin scones. I remember meeting Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen in the diagnostic laboratory where I was working while putting myself through medical school. Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen was the wife of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, a former Premier of Queensland, and she was well known for making pumpkin scones and sharing them with others. Lady Flo was also an Australian Senator. She used to serve her pumpkin scones in the Senate, apparently. The memory fits neatly here: warm, orange-gold scones, a little butter, and the unmistakable comfort of pumpkin treated as something homely rather than ordinary.

    Some interesting facts include:

    • Pumpkins are grown commercially across several parts of Queensland, particularly in the Darling Downs, Lockyer Valley, Central Queensland, and the Bundaberg region.
    • Queensland’s warm weather allows growers to produce pumpkins over a longer period than cooler southern states.
    • Jap pumpkin is one of the most commonly cultivated pumpkin types in Queensland.
    • Pumpkins are botanically classified as fruit because they develop from the flower and contain seeds.
    • A mature jap pumpkin stores exceptionally well and can often keep for several months in a cool, dry place.
    • The deep orange colour of jap pumpkin flesh comes from β-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A.

    Final Thoughts

    This soup is an example of kitchen thrift. The pork rib cooking liquor already contains tomato, fennel, onion, celery, pork flavour, and gelatine. Rather than discarding it, use it as the backbone of a hearty pumpkin soup. Served with rye sourdough and cultured butter, it makes a satisfying lunch or a light evening meal that feels both comforting and just a little indulgent.

    Today’s meals

    Morning tea

    A pork and fennel sausage roll from Market Bread Bar.

    A photograph of a Market Bread Bar Pork and Fennel sausage roll with tomato sauce drizzled on it. The sausage roll is on a Market Bread Bar brown paper bag.
    A photograph of the front of the Adelaide Central Market (Federal Hall).

    This was the best pork-and-fennel sausage roll I’ve eaten in South Australia.

    Lunch

    Sardines on toast

    Photograph of John West sardines in spring water with market bread, bar rye sourdough, which has been toasted, and buttered with cultured butter. The sardines have been mixed with some Jalna biodynamic organic yoghurt. The sardines on the two pieces of toasted rye sourdough are placed on a Dolphins NRL plate.

    I mashed some sardines with yoghurt and spread it on a couple of pieces of toasted rye sourdough bread (from Market Bread Bar [Adelaide Central Market]), which had been buttered with cultured butter.

    The yoghurt reduces the “fishiness” and adds some creaminess. It’s perfect on nicely toasted rye sourdough.

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