This Chinese Pumpkin rice is a super easy and flavorful rice cooker recipe: the soft pumpkin cubes melt in your mouth, contrasting with the firm bite of the white rice grains. Moreover, it only takes 10 minutes to prepare and the rest of the work is up to your rice cooker!
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⭐ Why This Recipe is a Star
- Chinese Pumpkin Rice is super easy to make: it takes less than 10 minutes to stir fry the dried shrimp, garlic and rice, before everything is transferred to the rice cooker which does all the work!
- It's delicious and nutritious: pumpkin is good for you and it basically dissolves in your mouth- like lava cake!- after cooking.
- Versatile: it can be made in a rice cooker or on the stovetop! You can also make it more filling by adding diced chicken and other ingredients. It also goes well with a range of side dishes such as asian pickled cucumbers and Chinese ginseng soup!
Note: a pumpkin dish, such as this pumpkin glutinous rice cake is often on the Chinese New Year Table (to symbolise an outstanding year ahead.) For more Chinese pumpkin recipes, click here.
🥘 Ingredients
You will only need a few simple ingredients:
- pumpkin: cut into cubes. You can leave the skin on if you want but will need to wash it super well. For a more attractive golden color, use Japanese pumpkin or kabocha squash.
- Rice: I use white Jasmine long grain rice. If substituting with brown, the rice will take longer to cook. if you don't want your pumpkin too mushy, you can add it halfway through the cooking process. You can learn more about various rice recipes here.
- Dried shrimp (heibi): soak in warm water to soften before cooking. I actually recommend stir-frying double the amount specified in my recipe till crisp, then plating half to garnish the cooked pumpkin rice with. The crispy dried shrimp will provide a delicious contrast in texture to the melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cubes and the firm white rice.
- Fresh garlic
- Light and dark soy sauces: Normally I leave the brand of soy sauce up to the reader, but as we need the right level of salinity here, note that I used Lee Kum for all 3 sauces in this recipe. You can substitute with other brands, but it will be saltier/ less salty than my version. If bland, add a bit of salt after the rice has been cooked then mix well, and remember to increase the amount of soy sauce for the next time you cook this. If too salty, use a low-sodium soy sauce or decrease to amount used to 1 Tablespoon.
- Oyster sauce
- Seasoning such as white sugar and white pepper: I find the amount of salt in this recipe perfect for me without adding salt but everyone has different tastebuds! (See Light and Dark Soy Sauces for what to do.)
📖 Variations & Substitutes
- With Chicken: you can add cubed chicken thigh to the rice cooker to cook with the pumpkin and rice. If so, I recommend marinating the chicken in the oyster and soy sauces along with the pepper and sugar before adding to the rice cooker. (No need to add anymore sauce after.) You can also use chicken breast if you like, but it will be drier and less flavorful than the dark meat.
- With crabmeat: Seafood cooks quickly and doesn't taste good when overcooked, so I recommend using pre-cooked crab and stirring that into the rice cooker a few minutes before the rice is done. (You basically just want to warm it up!)
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
1a. Drain the dried shrimp and keep the soaking water to cook the rice.
1b. Pan fry the dried shrimp in a bit of oil till nice and crisp. If you made extra, place it on some paper towels to soak up extra oil, for use as a rice garnish later.
1c. Add the minced garlic to the same pan as the remaining shrimps and stir fry over a low fire till fragrant. (Garlic burns easily.)
2. Add in the washed rice. Be careful as the oil will splutter. Turn up the fire to medium high then stir fry quickly to briefly toast the grains.
Note: the pot of some cookers may be usable on induction stoves. If so, you can do Steps 1 and 2 in the rice cooker pot and make it a 1-pot recipe!
3. Transfer everything to the rice cooker pot. Add the prawn soaking water and add more (regular) water till the first line on your index finger. (Alternatively, follow the guideline on the rice cooker pot for the amount of water to add.)
3b. Add the pumpkin cubes to the pot, followed by the sauces. The dark soy and oyster will stick to the spoon so you can "wash" it in the water!
4a. Add the white sugar and pepper, then press the button to start the cooking process!
4b. Once the rice cooker indicates that it has finished cooking, let the rice stand for another 5 minutes, before uncovering, gently fluffing up and serving.
🥡 How to Store
Extras can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 1-2 days. It can be heated up in the microwave or steamed.
Do pay attention to food safety and not leave it at room temperature for more than 1-2 hours (as leftover rice can give one bad food poisoning.) For more info and ways to use leftover rice, click here.
🥗 Other Pumpkin Recipes
Enjoyed this easy Chinese Pumpkin Rice Recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below! If you REALLY liked this pumpkin dish, please consider supporting it by buying me a coffee! 🙂 (No obligation though!) Thank you and have a great day!
Chinese Pumpkin Rice
Equipment
- Pot/ pan and spatula
- Rice cooker You can also cook the rice over the stove in the same pot that you sautéed the garlic in but I have yet to test this version for the time taken. If so, remember to use a pot with a cover.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons dried shrimp soaked in warm water. Also known as Udang Kering. You can double the amount if you want to use some as a topping for the rice.
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 Cup white rice raw, washed. If substituting with brown rice, the rice will take longer to cook. if you don't want your pumpkin too mushy, you can add it halfway through the cooking process
- 1½ Cups pumpkin cut into ½ inch cubes (150g). Use Japanese Kabocha for a more attractive golden color.
- 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1½-2 Tablespoons light soy sauce Normally I leave the brand of soy sauce up to the reader, but as we need the right level of salinity here, note that I used Lee Kum for all 3 sauces in this recipe. You can substitute with other brands, but it will be saltier/ less salty than my version. If bland, add a bit of salt after the rice has been cooked then mix well, and remember to increase the amount of soy sauce for the next time you cook this. If too salty, use a low-sodium soy sauce or decrease to amount used to 1 Tablespoon.
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper Do not substitute with black pepper. Omit if unavailable.
Instructions
- Drain the dried shrimp and keep the soaking water to cook the rice.
- Pan fry the dried shrimp in a bit of oil till nice and crisp. If you made extra, place it on some paper towels to soak up extra oil, for use as a rice garnish later.Note: the pot of some cookers may be usable on induction stoves. If so, you can do this in the rice cooker pot and make it a 1-pot recipe!
- Add the minced garlic to the same pan as the remaining shrimps and stir fry over a low fire till fragrant. (Garlic burns easily.)
- Add in the washed rice. Be careful as the oil will splutter. Turn up the fire to medium high then stir fry quickly to briefly toast the grains.
- Transfer everything to the rice cooker pot. Add the prawn soaking water and add more (regular) water till the first line on your index finger. Note: Alternatively, follow the guideline on the rice cooker pot for the amount of water to add.
- Add the pumpkin cubes to the pot, followed by the sauces. Add the white sugar and pepper, then press the button to start the cooking process! Note: The dark soy and oyster will stick to the spoon so you can "wash" it in the water!
- Once the rice cooker indicates that it has finished cooking, let the rice stand for another 5 minutes, before uncovering, gently fluffing up and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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