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    Home » Festive Asian Recipes » Chinese New Year (CNY)

    Published: Apr 19, 2022 · Modified: May 18, 2022 by Zen

    5 Asian and Chinese Pumpkin Recipes

    Delicious and easy Asian & Chinese pumpkin recipes from Xinjiang flavours to Thai, perfect for bringing you a bountiful harvest over the Lunar New Year or for a fresh take on a traditional Thanksgiving ingredient.

    Beef and butternut squash stir-fried with cumin.
    Did you know that pumpkin is a type of squash?
    Jump to:
    • Chinese New Year
    • Thanksgiving
    • Nutrition
    • How to store
    • Chinese Pumpkin Porridge
    • Pumpkin rice
    • Pumpkin bread
    • Thai-inspired Vegan Pumpkin Soup
    • Instant Pot Pumpkin Chicken Curry
    • Xinjiang-style stir-fried beef and pumpkin
    • Baked mini pumpkins
    • Gochujang squash

    Everyone knows that pumpkin is a staple of American Thanksgiving (and Halloween)- it's a type of squash that is native to North America- but it's also eaten on other special occasions such as Lunar New Year.

    Fun fact: Besides the bright orange pumpkin flesh, its shell, seeds, leaves and flowers are also edible once cooked. The roasted seeds make a delicious snack and pumpkin leaves are part of Korean cuisine.

    Chinese New Year

    Chinese New Year is commonly associated with lucky dishes such as dumplings and whole fish, but some people eat pumpkin for CNY too. There's a belief that dreaming about pumpkins means you'll have a good harvest and some associate eating it ("kum kua" in Cantonese) with "You're the best" (ding gua gua in Mandarin Chinese), so this would certainly be a good time to eat golden brown, delicious Chinese pumpkin cakes (it's delicious with sesame seeds sprinkled on top) as well as Nan Gua Bing, a savory pumpkin cake that only requires 4 ingredients.

    Other CNY recipes

    Chinese cuisine dishes that are typically found on the CNY table include:

    • uncut noodles for long life, such as mee siam goreng, mee siam kuah, stir-fried bihun and so on
    • whole chicken e.g. one-pot soy sauce chicken
    • Chinese peanut cookies for a fertile year
    • jujube longan tea- families used to make this before they could buy cheap fizzy drinks
    • 23 vegan and vegetarian CNY recipes
    • 70 or so Chinese New Year dishes
    • A special Chinese dessert for the New year, pumpkin Nian Gao

    If you're not sure where to start, here's an easy Chinese New Year menu plan.

    Thanksgiving

    A pumpkin dish is a staple on the Thanksgiving table. These Asian & Chinese pumpkin recipes are great if you're bored with the classic menu. We usually end up with tons of leftovers after the holidays, so if you've had enough of pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin buns, the porridge and soup recipes below are good alternative ideas for any extra pumpkin puree you have on hand after making your pumpkin pie.

    Note: If you're here for Thanksgiving ideas, here are 14 delicious Asian Thanksgiving recipes as well as some ideas on how to use up leftover roast chicken and turkey.

    Nutrition

    3 heaped tablespoons (i.e. about 80g of pumpkin) make up 1 portion of your 5 a day. Other associated health benefits potentially include:

    1. better skin
    2. better eye sight
    3. improved immunity
    4. reduced risk of metabolic syndrome such as diabetes
    5. cancer prevention

    Moreover, the natural sweetness of the pumpkin means that you can use less sugar than normal in a pumpkin recipe.

    Note: this information is for entertainment only and not meant as medial, diet or health advice. Please consult a qualified medical professional instead for such purposes.

    How to store

    If you've leftovers after cutting your pumpkin, cover it with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Some pumpkins are huge though- if it's too large to fit in the chiller, divide it into thin slices then store in an airtight container.

    It can also be frozen for for up to 3 months- line the pumpkin slices in a single layer, and put it in the freezer. Once frozen, they can be jumbled up in a ziplock bag without sticking to each other (for easy defrosting.)

    Chinese Pumpkin Porridge

    Easy hotel Chinese pumpkin rice recipe (with soup and fish)
    Adapted from the recipe of a Michelin star Chinese restaurant (in a 5-star hotel) to make it possible for daily weeknight dinners!
    Check out this recipe
    Bowl of golden pumpkin fish porridge with king oyster mushrooms

    Pumpkin rice

    A very simple recipe is to add some pumpkin cubes to your rice cooker the next time you cook rice. Drizzle some sesame oil and minced garlic on top, and you're good to go!

    Pumpkin bread

    You can also add mashed, steamed pumpkin to your mantou dough to get delicious, orange steamed mantou buns. For regular Western-style pumpkin dough , try this easy pumpkin bread recipe from King Arthur Baking.


    Thai-inspired Vegan Pumpkin Soup

    Thai inspired Vegan Pumpkin Soup
    Delicious, warm and comforting, this Thai-inspired vegan pumpkin soup is a great fusion dish!
    Check out this recipe

    Instant Pot Pumpkin Chicken Curry

    A colourful bowl of pumpkin chicken curry.
    Instant Pot Pumpkin curry with chicken
    The beauty of this recipe is that it is paleo, whole30, keto friendly and super easy to make if you have an instant pot!
    Click here for the pumpkin curry recipe

    Xinjiang-style stir-fried beef and pumpkin

    Beef and Pumpkin stir-fried with cumin
    Inspired by Xinjiang flavours, this beef and pumpkin is stir-fried with cumin, and every bite is full of flavour- not to mention that it's paleo and Whole30 as well. You can also use butternut squash if you don't have pumpkin!
    Check out this recipe
    Beef and butternut squash stir-fried with cumin.

    Baked mini pumpkins

    4 mini stuffed pumpkins with 2 bowls of rice
    Mini pumpkins stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and baked
    Mini pumpkins make great serving platters- they can be stuffed and baked like in this 4.92-starred recipe, or used to double boil soup and desserts.
    Check out this recipe
    4 mini stuffed pumpkins with 2 bowls of rice

    Gochujang squash

    Whilst this recipe originally calls for butternut squash, pumpkin is a great substitute too as the gochujang sauce is very flexible. You can also mix it with kabocha, sweet potatoes and carrots, though you'll need to be mindful of the different cooking times and cut the sizes accordingly.

    Easy 5-ingredient gochujang butternut squash recipe
    An easy 5-ingredient gochujang butternut squash recipe that is bursting with flavour. The hardest thing about this roasted Asian butternut squash recipe is cutting the squash!
    Click here for the gochujang squash recipe.
    Close-up of gochujang butternut squash baked fries.


    What is your favourite Asian food that contains pumpkin?

    Before you go, other Chinese dishes that may be of interest include:

    • Golden Salted Egg Yolk Cornflakes Crunch (Easy CNY Snack)
    • 18 Golden Recipes for a lucky Chinese New Year
    • Osmanthus tea konnyaku jelly recipe (Gui Hua Gao)
    • Quick and easy salted egg yolk popcorn snack
    « 7 Dried jujube fruit recipes (Chinese red dates)
    Easy Korean plum wine recipe (maesil-ju) »

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    Greedygirlgourmet eating 2 sandwiches in Scotland

    Hi I'm Zhen! I couldn't boil water till I was 18 but after living abroad (in St. Andrews then London) for 11 years and having to cook for myself, I now love having friends and families over, and cooking for them. I tend to be slightly obsessive-compulsive, so I like to try many different versions of a recipe before coming up with my own "ultimate" version. Check out www.greedygirlgourmet.com every week for new tried-and-tested (on my guinea pigs aka guests!) Asian recipes which are full of flavour!

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