Pumpkin is a delicious and nutritious food, besides cooking various soups, fried dishes with pumpkin are also very appealing. Roll up your sleeves and get cooking with TasteVN and make 2 ways of cooking crispy and delicious pumpkin with meat and shrimp for the whole family to enjoy!
1. Fried pumpkin with meat
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Preparation
45 minutes
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Cooking time
30 minutes
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Difficulty level
Easy
Ingredients for Fried pumpkin with meat For 4 people
Pumpkin 2 pieces Pork 400 grams Dried shiitake mushrooms 20 grams (shiitake) Wood ear mushrooms 20 grams (wood ear) Onion 1/2 bulb Garlic 10 grams Seasoning 1.5 tablespoons MSG 1/2 tablespoon Ground pepper 1 teaspoon Fish sauce 1/2 tablespoon
How to choose fresh ingredients:
How to choose fresh pork
You can buy pork home to grind using a meat grinder or purchase pre-ground pork as mentioned in the article!
- For whole pieces of pork, first, you should pay attention to the color. The color of good meat is bright pink, not too red and not too pale. Pork that is pale, has a greenish tint, and smells bad is already spoiled, so you should avoid this type of meat.
- Pork that is firm and elastic is good meat. You can test by pressing your finger into the meat; if it bounces back immediately, is not slimy, and does not release water or juices, it is good.
- For pre-ground pork, you should buy from reputable stores and supermarkets.
- You should choose pork with a balance of lean meat and fat so that your dish is not dry and does not become too greasy.
How to choose good shiitake mushrooms
You can use either fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms.
For dried mushrooms
Choose those that are firm, not broken, bright in color, and free from white mold spots. Choose a reputable source to buy dried mushrooms to ensure safety.
For fresh mushrooms
- Choose those with bright colors, a characteristic aroma, and avoid any that are bruised or have a rotten smell. If a cut releases a milky white substance, it is a sign of poisonous mushrooms. Avoid mushrooms with dark spots or wrinkles on the cap, and do not choose those that are slimy.
- Fresh mushrooms will have a thin paper-like layer on them. Choose mushrooms with firm stems, uniform color; if the mushrooms have opened, the gills should be arranged neatly, beautifully, and dry.
- When selecting fresh shiitake mushrooms, choose those with moderate-sized caps, tightly closed, and slightly brownish-yellow in color. If you see dark brown mushrooms, do not buy them, as they may be poisonous.
How to make Fried Pumpkin with Meat
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Prepare the pumpkin
After purchasing, wash the pumpkin thoroughly, cut it into slices about 5 – 7 cm thick, then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
Tip:
- If the pumpkin is still young, you should keep the skin to prevent it from becoming mushy during cooking
- Only peel older pumpkins with hard skin.
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Prepare other ingredients
Peel the onion and dice it. Mince the garlic.
Wash the shiitake and wood ear mushrooms under cold water to remove any dirt, then soak the mushrooms in water for about 30 – 45 minutes until they soften. After that, chop them finely.
How to quickly soften dried shiitake mushrooms
- Wash the mushrooms with water to remove dirt, then soak them in water for 30 minutes to several hours to allow them to soften; soaking for less than 30 minutes will not soften the mushrooms, resulting in poor taste when cooked.
- To shorten the time, you can soak the mushrooms in warm or hot water at 60 – 80 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
- While soaking, rotate the stems of the mushrooms in contact with the water’s surface to easily remove dirt from the shiitake mushrooms.
- For shiitake mushrooms, you should cut off the stems as they are very tough and do not taste good.
How to properly soak dried wood ear mushrooms
- Before soaking wood ear mushrooms, you should rinse them under cold water to clean off sand and dirt.
- You should only soak wood ear mushrooms for a maximum of 3 – 4 hours; do not soak them too long as it can cause the mushrooms to produce toxins harmful to health.
- Only soak dried wood ear mushrooms in cold water, do not soak them in hot water as it will produce many substances that are not good for health.
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Marinate and Stuff the Filling
Put all the minced pork, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, onion, and minced garlic into a large bowl. Then season the meat with 1.5 tablespoons of seasoning, 1/2 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate, 1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce, and 1 teaspoon of ground pepper, using a spoon to mix well and marinate for about 15 – 20 minutes for the filling to absorb the flavors.
Next, scoop a moderate amount of filling into each slice of pumpkin.
Tip: You should stuff it tightly so that when frying, the filling does not fall out!
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Fry the Pumpkin
Heat a pan on the stove, add cooking oil, and wait for it to get hot, then add each slice of pumpkin to the pan and fry over high heat. When the bottom side of the pumpkin is just cooked, flip it over and continue frying until both sides are golden and crispy.
As soon as the pumpkin is crispy, lower the heat, then crack an egg into a bowl and beat it well. Use a spoon to spread the beaten egg evenly over the surface of the pumpkin, fry for another 1 – 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and place it on a plate.
Tip:
- During frying, you should not flip it too many times to avoid crushing the pumpkin.
- Spreading egg on the surface of the pumpkin helps the pork filling and pumpkin stick together better, while also creating a beautiful color and enhancing the deliciousness of the dish.
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Finished Product
Fried pumpkin with meat after completion has an eye-catching color. The outer layer of pumpkin is crispy, while the inside is chewy and sweet, blended with the delicious and rich meat filling. This dish is best served hot with chili sauce or soy sauce!
2. Fried pumpkin with shrimp
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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
20 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Fried pumpkin with shrimp Serves 2 people
Pumpkin 50 gr Vietnamese coriander 10 gr Mayonnaise 1 tablespoon Salt and pepper 1/3 teaspoon Shrimp 6 pieces Potato starch 20 gr Chicken egg 1 piece Breadcrumbs 30 gr
How to choose fresh delicious shrimp
- If buying frozen shrimp, you must choose shrimp that still have all their parts, feeling firm, soft, and naturally elastic (to avoid buying shrimp that have been injected with gelatin to increase weight) and especially no fishy or rotten smell.
- Choose live shrimp to ensure freshness, with shiny shells, looking strong and healthy; when squeezed, the shrimp should have some elasticity, and the shell should not be too soft.
See details: How to choose fresh shrimp and how to preserve fresh shrimp in the refrigerator for a long time
Required tools:
How to make Fried pumpkin with shrimp
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Prepare the shrimp
Remove the shrimp head, peel the shell, and then use a small knife to make a longitudinal cut along the back to remove the shrimp vein; gently squeeze the body of the shrimp to let the vein stick out a little, then pull it out with your hand.
After cleaning the shrimp, let them drain, then use a knife to make a longitudinal cut along the back, being careful not to cut too deep to avoid severing the shrimp.
Tip for quickly removing the black vein on the back of the shrimp
- Count backward from the tail of the shrimp to the second groove connecting the two shell segments, poke a toothpick through this position and gently pull the black vein to remove it.
- You can also use a toothpick to dig out the head part of the shrimp without cutting the back; you will see the black vein. Gently pull this black vein out, and the shrimp will be clean.
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Prepare other ingredients
Peel the pumpkin, wash it clean, and cut it into small square pieces. Put the pumpkin into a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the microwave, cooking at 600W for 5 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.
Wash the cilantro and chop finely.
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Mash and season pumpkin
After the pumpkin is cooked, take it out and let it cool for about 5 minutes, then use a spoon to mash it finely.
Next, season the pumpkin with 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise, all the finely chopped coriander, 1/3 teaspoon of salt and pepper, and mix the mixture well.
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Stuffing the filling
Use a spoon to scoop a sufficient amount of filling into the back of the shrimp, then sprinkle a little potato flour.
Prepare 2 trays: beaten eggs and breadcrumbs.
You dip the pumpkin wrapped around the shrimp through a layer of beaten egg, then coat it with a layer of breadcrumbs.
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Frying shrimp
Place a pan on the stove with cooking oil; when the oil starts to heat up, add the pumpkin wrapped shrimp and fry over medium heat until golden brown, then take it out and drain the oil.
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Final product
The fried pumpkin with shrimp has a beautiful golden-brown crust. The pumpkin is crispy on the outside, yet creamy and sweet on the inside, and the shrimp is sweet and not dry at all. The dish becomes more delicious and flavorful when served with a little chili sauce or ketchup!
How to choose delicious pumpkin:
- A good pumpkin usually has a yellow-orange color, mixed with dark green, yellow flesh, and a relatively firm texture.
- Choose heavy, firm pumpkins with smooth skin.
- Choose pumpkins with stems 2 – 5cm long. Those with short stems tend to rot faster.
- Look for round-shaped pumpkins that have natural grooves dividing them into relatively equal parts.
See details:
Quick pumpkin peeling tips:
- Use a sharp peeler to cleanly peel the skin around the pumpkin and hold the pumpkin tightly with your other hand.
- If your peeler is not sharp enough or you don’t have one, you can cut the pumpkin in half horizontally and then use a regular knife to peel the skin vertically.
- Use a knife to cut the pumpkin in half. Then continue to cut each half into 3 – 4 pieces depending on the size of the pumpkin.
- Use a spoon to scoop out the inside flesh or gently use a knife to separate the flesh.
- Finally, just cut to the desired size and prepare your dish.
How to store pumpkin
- Wash the pumpkin, then place it in a vacuum-sealed bag and store it in the refrigerator refrigerator at a temperature of 5 – 8 degrees Celsius.
- If you want to keep it longer, you should store the pumpkin in the freezer at a temperature of -8 to -10 degrees Celsius.
- When you want to use it for cooking, you should thaw the pumpkin in the refrigerator until the ice melts; do not thaw it with water as water will cause the pumpkin to lose its nutrients.
It’s really simple to make this delicious dish at home, isn’t it? Let’s get cooking now, TasteVN wishes you success!
*Refer to images and recipes from: YouTube channel TUẤN NGUYỄN FOOD and TasteShare
