Christy Morgan’s azuki bean and japanese pumpkin soup is from her awesome cookbook, Blissful Bites, which is full of healthy vegan recipes. This is a perfect soup to warm and satisfy you, while also helping your body cleanse. It’s so flavorful, and feels really rich, but at the same time it doesn’t leave you feeling heavy. It makes a great post-holiday meal.
Azuki Bean and Japanese Pumpkin Soup Recipe
Prep time:
Cook Time:
Time from start to eating:
Makes 4-6 servings
The is one of the best vegan recipes to fill up a nice big pot, so it will either serve a lot of people or last you for a few meals. What I love about Christy’s cooking style is that she uses whole foods, minimal oil and fantastic flavor combinations. You can find more of Christy’s recipes in her book and on her website, The Blissful Chef. I’m so happy that she let me share this recipe with all of you, because it is so delicious – and healthy.
Azuki beans, also known as aduki or adzuki, are small red beans eaten in China and Japan for cleansing. Christy mentions in the intro to the recipe that they improve blood circulation, reduce fatigue, detoxify the skin and other organs, and promote a healthy digestive system. Sounds perfect after a big holiday meal, right?? If you can’t find azuki/aduki/adzuki beans, you can make this recipe using black beans instead.
And if you’re having trouble tracking down a kabocha squash, you can use butternut or honeynut squash in its place. You could try it with a small pumpkin, but it won’t give as rich a texture as the kabocha.
Miso is a fermented soybean paste that’s great for adding flavor and nutrients, and is so salty that it can take the place of most of the salt. But if you can’t find it, you can just use salt instead. You may notice in the video that my miso wasn’t the white kind – there are lots of different types of miso that use different grains along with the soybeans. Mine is a brown barley miso that’s super flavorful. White miso is a milder flavor because it uses rice.
What do you think of this soup? Let me know below.
{jumi [files/includes/youtube.php] [HUCn3vAyCrw]}
Azuki Bean And Japanese Pumpkin Soup Ingredients
- 3 x 14oz cans azuki beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/2 cup dried beans, fully cooked)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups kabocha squash/japanese pumpkin (or butternut squash), small cube
- Pinch sea salt
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 2 Tbsp white miso, diluted in 1/4 cup soup broth
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro or parsley, minced (save some for garnish)
- Pinch white pepper
- Sea salt, to taste
Azuki Bean And Japanese Pumpkin Soup Directions
- If you’re using dried beans, they need to be fully cooked before you start. 1 1/2 cups dried beans will make 4 1/2 cups cooked beans. Click for directions on how to cook dried beans.
- Put the beans, squash, salt and broth in a pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the carrots and simmer for 5 more minutes.
- In a bowl, dilute the miso in a small amount of broth, then add it to the pot. Simmer for one minute more, then turn off the heat. Stir in the fresh herbs, white pepper and sea salt to taste if needed. Miso is very salty, so you may not need much or any additional salt.
- Serve garnished with fresh herbs. I also topped it off with a pumpkin seed-kelp mixture that Christy had in her section on sea vegetables. Just toast some pumpkin seeds, and grind them with a powdered or ground seaweed, then sprinkle over soup, salad – or anything! She suggests using dulse, but I didn’t have any on hand so I tried it with kelp and it was fantastic. I hope you like Christy’s soup, and be sure to check out her cookbook for more! 🙂
