• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Greedygirlgourmet
  • Recipes
  • SEO for Food Blogs
  • Authentic South East Asian Recipes
  • Privacy policy
  • Subscribe
  • Accessibility

Greedy Girl Gourmet

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Chinese New Year
  • Recipes
  • Blogging
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Chinese New Year
    • Recipes
    • Blogging
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Asian Recipes for Summer

    Published: Aug 27, 2022 by Zen · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Chinese Pumpkin Soup with Carrots

    Sharing food makes everyone happy! :)

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    A deliciously savory dish, this Chinese Pumpkin Soup with carrots is also very nutritious and really easy to make in a few simple steps! (Basically, cut + steam!) No blender or cream needed!

    Close-up of a bowl of Chinese steamed soup in a pumpkin bowl.
    Jump to:
    • Why Make This
    • Ingredients
    • Variations
    • Step-by-step Instructions
    • Expert Tips
    • Recipe FAQs
    • Other Chinese Recipes
    • Chinese Pumpkin Soup with Carrots
    • 💬 Comments

    Why Make This

    1. Chinese Pumpkin Soup is deliciously savory: full of umami from the dried scallops and kelp and naturally sweet from the jujubes and carrots (no refined sugar added!) It's a great way to use up extra Thanksgiving pumpkins, but it's so easy and tasty, I'm sure you'll make it year round!
    2. And healthy: unlike most pumpkin soups, there is no cream added so it's good for your heart and your waistline!
    3. Simple to make too: you simply mix the ingredients then steam them for 1 hour!

    Ingredients

    Some of the simple ingredients you will need are:

    • Pumpkin: If you can get small ones, they make great serving bowls for the soup but make sure you don't steam them for too long or they'll break and all the soup will leak out! If you only have regular, large pumpkin, just steam the pumpkin cubes and other ingredients in a large heat-proof bowl. If you have too much, you can use them in this pumpkin congee or these Asian pumpkin dishes.
    • Dried Scallops: Get Japanese Hokkaido dried scallops, or conpoy, if you can as they're of higher quality. If you can't get them, here are some good dried scallop alternatives.
    • Dried seaweed (Kelp/ Kombu): if you can't get this, you can use more dried scallops or substitute with some fish sauce. Both add the same umami to the Chinese pumpkin soup.
    • Jujubes: added for natural sweetness. Remove the seed before steaming to make them less heaty. For more ways to use up these Chinese red dates, click here.

    For a full list of ingredients, please check out the recipe card!

    Where to Buy

    The ingredients are mostly widely available, with the exception of dried scallops, dried kelp and dried jujubes.

    You can find these at the Asian supermarket or online.

    Variations

    • Pumpkin and corn soup: I don't add corn as it's too big to fit into a small pumpkin, which I use as a serving bowl for the bowl. However, many Chinese soups use corn for its natural sweetness.
    • Pumpkin pork soup: You can use pork stock instead of chicken- or add blanched pork ribs to steam with the other ingredients- but I find chicken stock gives a "cleaner" taste that goes better with seafood (if using, see below.) If steaming pork ribs with the other ingredients, increase the cooking time to 2-3 hours to extract all the flavor from the bones.
    • Pumpkin seafood soup: You can add seafood such as prawns, fresh scallops or crab to this soup. (This is how it is served at Summer Palace, a Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant in Regent Hotel, Singapore.) If adding the fresh seafood, to make sure they are not overcooked, either:
      • add them to the soup for just the amount of time they require to be poached (which will change depending on the size and type of seafood i.e. prawns and crab will be added at different points of time)
      • OR cook the seafood separately, then add them to the bowl of soup right before serving.

    Step-by-step Instructions

    6 dried scallops soaking in a bowl of water.
    1. Briefly rinse the dried scallops then soak in hot water for at least 30 minutes to soften them.

    Tip: Do not try to scrub off all the white "powder" on the surface of the dried scallops! They contain lots of flavor.

    A pumpkin with its top sliced off.

    2. Slice off the top of the pumpkin.

    Tip: If this is a small pumpkin and you are going to use it as a bowl for the soup, make sure to slice near the top (so the bowl is nice and deep.) Keep the top to cover the "bowl" later.

    A pumpkin with its flesh scooped out.

    4. Use a melon baller or an ice cream scoop (or just a regular spoon) to scoop out the pumpkin flesh and seeds.
    Separate the flesh from the seeds- you can regrow the seeds or roast them. The flesh will be added to the Chinese soup.

    Cut the carrots and jujubes.

    Chinese pumpkin soup being steamed in a tiered steamer.

    5. Combine 1 Cup of cut pumpkin (the flesh of 2 small pumpkins), 2 cut carrots, 3 cut jujubes, 4 1-inch by 1 inch pieces of dried kelp, ½ Tablespoon of shaoxing wine, 3 Cups of chicken stock, ¼ teaspoon of salt (if the chicken stock is unseasoned) and the 6 dried scallops (along with the soaking water.)

    Steam for 1 hour. Season to taste, then serve.

    Expert Tips

    Tip #1: If your pumpkin is bitter, don't eat it! Pumpkins, squashes and gourds  are cucurbits and may contain cucurbitacin. This is a toxic, bitter tasting compound which may lead to food poisoning and hair loss. (It's bred out of domestic pumpkins but may be reintroduced by cross-pollinations with wild pumpkins due to insects.)

    Tip #2: If you don't want the pumpkin to dissolve into the soup, only add it for the last 20 minutes of steaming. (If not, it becomes very soft and makes your clear soup a little murky.) Alternatively, if you want to add the pumpkin from the start, leave the skin on to hold it together- if steamed long enough, the pumpkin skin becomes soft and can be eaten.

    Tip #3: If using a small hollowed-out pumpkin to serve the soup, steam it very briefly for 5-15 minutes (depending on how thick the wall of the pumpkin is) so that the flesh is cooked but remains sturdy i.e. it doesn't become too soft to contain the soup. To serve, ladle the ingredients first before topping up with the liquid soup.

    Recipe FAQs

    What are the benefits of pumpkin soup?

    Pumpkins contain lots of anti-oxidants, such as alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin. These may help to reduce free radical cell damage, protect the skin from the sun and lower the risk of cancer. It also has well-documented anti-diabetic, anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties.

    Can I eat pumpkin leaves?

    If you are lucky enough to get a pumpkin with leaves, yes they're edible, cooked and raw. In fact, they're often eaten in Korean cuisine.

    Can you freeze pumpkin?

    If your pumpkin is huge and you have too much, you can freeze it cooked, raw or in puree form for 2-3 months.

    A bowl of Chinese soup with pumpkin, scallops, carrots, jujubes and seaweed in a white bowl.

    Other Chinese Recipes

    • Crispy Fish Sauce Chicken Wings (Baked)
    • 13 Taiwanese Side Dishes Recipes (authentic)
    • Tiger Milk Tea Boba (3-ingredients)
    • Quick Eryngii Mushrooms (3-ingredients)

    Enjoyed this Chinese Pumpkin Soup with Carrots recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & if you REALLY like it, I'd love a comment. Thank you and have a great day!

    A hand holding Chinese pumpkin soup served in a small pumpkin and white bowl.

    Chinese Pumpkin Soup with Carrots

    Zen
    A deliciously savory dish, this Chinese Pumpkin Soup with carrots is also very nutritious and really easy to make in a few simple steps! (Basically, cut + steam!)
    5 from 40 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 1 hr
    Course Side Dish, Soup
    Cuisine Cantonese, Chinese
    Servings 4 people
    Calories 227 kcal

    Equipment

    • Melon baller or ice-cream scoop Substitute: spoon
    • Knife and cutting board
    • steamer
    • Large bowl that is heat-proof

    Ingredients
      

    • 6 dried scallops Rinsed then soaked for 30 minutes in hot water. Do not try to scrub off all the white "powder" on the surface of the dried scallops! They contain lots of flavor.
    • 2 small pumpkins Yields about 1 Cup of pumpkin flesh
    • 2 carrots Peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
    • 4 jujubes deseeded and cut into quarters
    • 4 pieces 1 inch by 1 inch dried kelp Don't wash off the white powder as it is the natural umami of the seaweed! Simply use a damp cloth to remove any dirt.
    • 3 Cups Chicken stock Substitute: pork stock.
    • ½ Tablespoon Shaoxing wine Substitute: sake
    • ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste

    Instructions
     

    • Slice the top of the pumpkin. Make sure you slice at the top if using the pumpkin as a bowl (see Notes.)
    • Use a melon baller or an ice cream scoop (or just a regular spoon) to scoop out the pumpkin flesh and seeds.Separate the flesh from the seeds- you can regrow the seeds or roast them. The flesh will be added to the Chinese soup.
    • Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl that can go into the steamer and steam for 1 hour.
    • Season to taste, then serve.

    Notes

    Important: If your pumpkin is bitter, don't eat it! Pumpkins, squashes and gourds  are cucurbits and may contain cucurbitacin. This is a toxic, bitter tasting compound which may lead to food poisoning and hair loss.
    If you don't want the pumpkin to dissolve into the soup, only add it for the last 20 minutes of steaming OR leave the skin on if adding the pumpkin right from the start.
    Serving tip: if you can get small pumpkins, they make wonderful serving bowls for this Chinese pumpkin soup! Cook the soup as per the recipe then steam the pumpkins for 5-15 minutes (depending on the thickness)- you want it cooked but still firm enough to hold the soup- then ladle the steamed soup into them.
    Storage: Extra soup can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days. Simply reboil before serving. Extra pumpkin can be frozen for up to 3 months.
    Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 227kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 13gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 296mgPotassium: 2518mgFiber: 3gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 57916IUVitamin C: 61mgCalcium: 154mgIron: 6mg
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @GreedyGirlGourmet or tag #greedygirlgourmet!

    If you've enjoyed this pumpkin soup without cream and blender recipe, I'd be super grateful if you shared it on your social media accounts! Thank you!

    I have other recipes you may like here! :)

    • Shrimp Mei Fun (Fried Rice Noodles)
    • Chinese Almond Cookies 2023 (Buttery)
    • 23 Asian Recipes with Tofu for 2023
    • Chinese Sour Plum Drink (Suanmeitang)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Dorene chew says

      September 16, 2022 at 7:31 am

      5 stars
      Chinese pumpkin soup - thank you for your recipe : I had it several times this month - very nourishing!!

      Reply
      • Zen says

        September 16, 2022 at 1:57 pm

        Thanks Dorene, that's the best news for a recipe blogger!!!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Greedygirlgourmet eating 2 sandwiches in Scotland

    Hi I'm Zhen also known as GGG! 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 cooking for friends and family. Learning to cook late, I make sure my recipes go into enough detail for those new to Asian cuisine or who love a test kitchen approach to cooking!

    More about GGG ->

    Chinese New Year

    • Muah Chee (Peanut Mochi) (5 Methods)
    • Traditional Chinese Peanut Cookies (CNY)
    • Easiest Osmanthus Sugar & Syrup Recipe
    • Best Vermicelli Substitutes

    Popular Dishes

    • Quick Eryngii Mushrooms (3-ingredients)
    • Best Poached One Pot Soy Sauce Chicken
    • Yuzu konnyaku jelly recipe (15 minutes)
    • Tiger Milk Tea Boba (3-ingredients)
    • Traditional Chinese Peanut Cookies (CNY)
    • 10 Longevity Noodle Recipes for CNY 2023
    • 33 Vegetarian Chinese New Year Recipes
    • 23 Best Chinese New Year Desserts 2023

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Greedygirlgourmet
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Policy
    • All Recipes

    Newsletter

    • Sign up here!

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Buy Me a Coffee :)

    As an Amazon Associate, at no cost to you, I earn from qualifying purchases :)

    Copyright © 2023 GreedyGirlGourmet