PUMPKIN: From Soup to Dessert





KALABASA FRENCH FRIES – Cut the pumpkin, unpeeled, into thick sticks as thin as your little finger. Toss with a little salt, drain on bond paper or paper towels. Deep-fry in batches in very hot vegetable oil until half-done. Cool in a single layer on bond paper. Deep-fry a second time until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Serve with a sprinkling of coarse salt, black pepper, and paprika. May be offered with a choice of dips.

CRUNCHY PUMPKIN CHIPS – Slice pumpkin into disks 1/6 inch thick. Shake in a bag of seasoned flour. Get the hot oil ready in a deep fryer. Dip each slice in beaten egg, then dredge with Japanese Panko bread crumbs and slide into the hot oil. Cook until light golden. May be served with a sweetish tempura dip (soy sauce, mirin, water, sugar and grated ginger) or with vinegar, British style. Modern young diners have been known to mound blue cheese dressing on these unique crisps.

FAUX MUNGGO SOUP – For arthritis sufferers who love mung bean soup but are afraid of uric acid. Boil, then mash pumpkin flesh. Saute garlic, onion and tomatoes, add a shrimp boullion cube, four cups water and three cups cooked, mashed pumpkin. Season with salt to taste, or add shrimp bagoong. Shortly before serving, throw in two cups of sliced ampalaya, or ampalaya leaves, or any kind of green leaves. Fantastic sprinkled with bits of fish crackers, chicharon or kropek.

KALABASA BREADS AND MUFFINS – Freshly grated pumpkin is added to any bread or muffin recipe. As a guide, use any recipe for carrot bread and muffins, and substitute an equal amount of pumpkin. This is an inexpensive way to add fibers, beta carotene, and vitamins to your baked goods.

UKOY – Cut the pumpkin into match sticks. For four cups of pumpkin, use ½ cup of flour (or rice flour if you can find it) seasoned with chicken powder, salt, pepper, and one cup small shrimps. Mix lightly until moistened by the shrimp and pumpkin juices. Form into small mounds on a tray, and drop the mounds into hot cooking oil. Do not crowd. Brown both sides. Serve with a tartar sauce or with Filipino style chili vinegar with crushed garlic.

ROYAL FLAN – Cut the tops off small mature pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and bake until the flesh can be scooped out, leaving the skin intact to form a bowl. Mash or puree the cooked flesh. Make a custard with eggs, milk, vanilla, and pureed pumpkin.

Return to the pumpkin shell, bake and serve. Alternatively, for a less dense dessert, one may just make a normal custard without the pumpkin flesh, and use the pumpkin only as a baking vessel.

HALEYANG KALABASA – Into six cups of mashed cooked pumpkin flesh, add two cups of condensed milk, one cup of pure coconut milk, and a few drops of vanilla. Cook in a wide shallow pan over slow heat, mixing constantly until thickened. Will keep in tightly covered jars in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

KALABASA-QUE – Cut pumpkin into thick, long sticks. Leave out to air or sun for an hour to reduce moisture. Deep fry in vegetable oil, sprinkling brown sugar during the frying process to create a coating of brown caramel over the pumpkin sticks. Cheaper and healthier than Kamote-que.

FAKE POTATO – Use pumpkin for any recipe that calls for potatoes or yams.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/281914/pumpkin-from-soup-dessert



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