This Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup recipe makes an aromatic, gently spiced pumpkin soup that’s rich and creamy thanks to coconut cream. Use coconut milk for a lighter broth. Cambodians like their soups to be balanced: a little spicy, a little salty, a little sweet, but you could omit the sugar if needed. The soup is swirled with more coconut cream and garnished with fresh basil for more fragrance and flavour.
Cambodia has been on my mind, along with dear Terence and Pepper back in Siem Reap, as I’m still in Australia taking care of my mum. Cambodia’s Pchum Ben festival just ended, the monsoon season will soon finish, and next month brings Siem Reap Water Festival. It’s my favourite time of year in Cambodia, when everything is lush and green, and the cool weather is coming.
So I had to cook Cambodian food. As there are plenty of pumpkins around, I thought I’d share this Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup recipe, one of my favourite pumpkin recipes. A few years ago, I published a recipe for a spiced pumpkin soup, which was a combination of an old-fashioned pumpkin soup my Australian grandmother used to make and this traditional Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup.
I realised that I never got around to sharing the original pumpkin soup recipes, so I thought I’d start with the Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup, which is considered a Khmer royal cuisine dish. We learnt to make the soup in a Cambodian cooking class at Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor way back in 2011 on our first trip to Siem Reap for a magazine story.
I’ll tell you more about this recipe for Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup below. If you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, we have many hundreds of recipes in our archives. You can create your own private account to save your favourites by clicking on the heart on the right of any post to create an account and save the recipe.
Cambodian Pumpkin Coconut Soup Recipe with Star Anise and Cinnamon
Cambodian chefs believe that Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup is a Royal Khmer dish with French culinary influence, due to the use of coconut milk and coconut cream in the soup. Not that French cooks traditionally used coconut milk or coconut cream in their pumpkin soups.
But the French have long used cream, creme fraiche and/or whole milk in pumpkin soup, which Cambodian cooks in the royal palace kitchen substituted with coconut milk or coconut cream. So the thinking goes.
Which is why it drove me a little crazy seeing promos for MasterChef Australia this year in which the French judge exclaimed “You’re crazy!” to an Asian-Australian contestant who made a pumpkin coconut soup.
Cambodian cooks were using pumpkins in their cooking centuries before Cambodia became a French protectorate and Cambodia is a major producer of pumpkins. In Cambodian cooking, pumpkin is used in both savoury and sweet dishes.
Pumpkin is used in sweet Cambodian snacks, such as this caramelised pumpkin sago pudding, one of my favourite pumpkin desserts, and pumpkin is a key ingredient in a hearty Cambodian vegetable soup called samlor korko (‘samlor’ means soup or stew), which for many locals is Cambodia’s national dish.
Cambodians love their samlors and there are countless Cambodian soups and stews. A few of my favourites include this sour beef soup with morning glory, this pork, pineapple and coconut milk stew and this cold ‘outside the pot’ soup recipe, a light cooling soup that’s super popular during the hot season.
The chef at the Grand believed that a traditional French pumpkin soup had been adapted by royal cooks to suit Cambodian taste with fresh coconut milk and coconut cream instead of cow’s milk cream, and Cambodian aromatics added such as fresh lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon and cumin, and palm sugar used instead of white sugar.
Just a few tips to making this Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup recipe.
Tips to Making this Cambodian Pumpkin Coconut Soup Recipe with Star Anise and Cinnamon
I only have a few tips to making this Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup recipe. While I’ve largely stuck to the original recipe, I’ve adjusted the measures as the recipe shared with us was created as an amuse bouche for 18-20 and only partially scaled down.
For a thicker pumpkin coconut soup, like the creamy pumpkin soup I made that was partly inspired by this one (which I linked to above), either use less stock or use more pumpkin.
In Cambodia, fresh coconut cream and fresh coconut milk are typically used, made at home or bought from the local markets. But unless you can source fresh coconuts, then canned coconut milk and coconut cream will be just fine.
You’ll need fresh lemongrass stalks, and dried spices such as star anise, cinnamon, and cumin. While palm sugar in Cambodia, you could use brown sugar, raw sugar or white sugar.
The original recipe calls for allowing the pumpkin coconut soup to cool and refrigerating overnight to enable the flavours to meld, but if you don’t have time you could bump up the spices.
Remember not to tip the whole can of coconut cream in the pot, as you’ll need a little to swirl on the soup. It’s not in the recipe, but I love to sprinkle on some chilli flakes and/or sliced fresh chillies, or drizzle on some chilli oil.
Star anise is pretty on top and if you invite your guests to inhale the soup they’ll get a whiff of its perfume. Fresh coriander is also lovely instead of or alongside fresh basil.
Cambodians eat some of their heartier soups, stews, curries, and even skewers, with buttered baguettes, another remnant of French culinary influence.
Cambodian Pumpkin Coconut Soup Recipe with Star Anise and Cinnamon
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion - finely diced
- 1 lemongrass stalk - pounded with a pestle
- 600 g pumpkin - peeled, chopped into small pieces
- ½ tsp ground star anise
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise pieces
- 400 ml coconut cream - or coconut milk
- ½ tsp salt - or to taste
- 1 tsp sugar - optional
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- To a soup pot, add the vegetable oil, heat over medium, add the diced onion and cook for a few minutes until fragrant, soft and translucent.
- To the same pot, add the lemongrass stalk and pumpkin pieces and sauté for a few more minutes, add the dried spices and sauté for another couple of minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock, cinnamon stick and star anise pieces, stir to combine, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes or so until the pumpkin is soft.
- Remove the pumpkin soup from the stove and allow it to cool. If time, transfer the soup to a container and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavours to meld. If you don’t have time…
- Remove the lemongrass stalk, cinnamon stick and star anise pieces or pass the soup through a strainer, transfer to a blender in batches and blend until smooth, returning each batch to the soup pot.
- Warm the pumpkin soup over medium heat. When the soup is hot, add the coconut cream (saving some for garnishing), stir to combine, heat until hot, and season with salt and optional sugar.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, swirl on some coconut cream, garnish with fresh basil, and serve immediately with a French baguette.
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our recipe for Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup as we love hearing how our recipes turn out for you.
I’ve just made this divine soup for lunch. I actually bumped up the spice level and garnished with coriander and it’s glorious. It was meant to be for dinner but I’ve eaten half of it! I’m going to browse your Cambodian recipes to look for something to go with it. Awkun guys!
Hi Eliza, so pleased to read this :) Browse this post as we have dozens of Cambodian recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/cambodian-recipes-to-learn-to-cook/ You could follow this with a stir fry or braise — perhaps Cambodia’s cashew chicken? — or one of the many wonderful Cambodian salads and some skewers on the side? Whatever you decide, please do let us know how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to drop by :)