Pumpkin pleasure
Mon, Jan 19, 2008
The Special Projects Unit, SPH

NOT quite your traditional Chinese dish, this serves up New Year symbolisms aplenty. Pumpkin orbs herald a smooth-sailing year ahead while its happy golden hue rings in hopes of prosperity and good fortune.

A sprinkling of fish (or yu) - in the form of auspiciously pink salmon cubes - ensures a year of plenty. For good measure, the aromatic dish may point to an equally fragrant and pleasing year.

Jasmine-Lemon Scented Rice with Pumpkin
(Serves 4)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup long grain rice
3 cups jasmine tea (infused using 2 teabags)
1 tsp ginger, julienned
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 shallots, chopped
180g salmon fillet, cubed
800g pumpkin or butternut squash
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Grated zest of half a lemon, optional

METHOD

First do the hard part. Use a melon baller and dig out the pumpkin flesh, making sure you get them out as round as possible.

Heat about 2 tbsp cooking oil in a pan or wok and saute the ginger, garlic and shallots briefly. Pop in the pumpkin, sprinkle with a little water and cook for about 3 minutes.

Add the uncooked rice and stir it around, so that the oil and aromatics are mixed nicely with the rice.

Add salt and if you like, a teaspoon of stock powder into the rice, toss a bit and pour it all into the rice cooker.

Add the salmon and tea, and cook.

Meanwhile, dry toast the sesame seeds in a flat pan over a gently moderate flame. Shake it about to prevent it from burning. Watch out for when the seeds just start to take on a darker hue, as it browns very quickly from then on. Once they get a little tan, remove them from the heat and pour it into a bowl or plate.

Once the rice is cooked, fluff and serve it up nice and fragrant with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and lemon zest.

TIP
If you find the pumpkin too hard to handle, steam it for a few minutes to soften just a little first to make the work easier.

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on Jan 18, 2009.