Pumpkin Mock Abacus Seeds 南瓜算盘子

Pumpkin Mock Abacus Seeds  南瓜算盘子

Recipe source :  Y3K Magazine - Catherine Chia's kitchen

These lovely "abacus seeds" look so pretty. They look like golden coins. This can be a meal on its own, very similar to a pasta or a noodle dish and it is truly filling. These pumpkin abacus seeds are imitations of yam abacus seeds which is a traditional dish of the Hakka community.   
This delicacy is not something easily available nor is it widely sold in restaurants, well, at least not around the vicinity where I stay.   

I like this pumpkin coins more than the yam version. On its own, the pumpkin coins are rather bland. Once you add in the other ingredients it becomes a great dish. The ingredients were well blended to complement each other. Every mouthful is bursting with the wonderfully combined flavours of fragrant and chewy cuttle fish, mixed with crunchy black fungus and bits of minced pork.

I am always very happy to share when I stumbled upon a great recipe.
This is one of the fabulous ones! 

Ingredients A

600g pumpkin
300g tapioca flour
1 tbsp cooking oil

Ingredients B

1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced shallot
1 tbsp dried shrimps ( soaked, drained and diced )              ( I used dried scallop )
100g minced chicken meat /pork
2 mushrooms ( soaked, drained and diced )
20g black fungus ( soaked and shredded )
50g dried cuttlefish shreds ( soaked )

Seasonings

2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper

Garnishing

1 stalk Chinese parsley  )
1 stalk spring onion         )  all diced
1 fresh red chilli               )

Top left : diced mushrooms. Top right :  dried scallops

Bottom left :  shredded black fungus.Bottom right : Cuttlefish filaments

Minced pork

Method

1.  Peel pumpkin, cut into pieces. Steam tilled cooked and soft, drain off excess water. Add in tapioca flour and oil. Knead into a dough. Do it while the pumpkin is still hot.
2.  Pinch about 5g to 10g of dough and shape into rounds and use a finger to make a dented impression into the centre. ( To make them look like abacus seeds )
3.  Boil the pumpkin seeds in hot water till they float to the surface. Remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a basin of cold water briefly. Drain away the water. Set aside. 
4.  Heat a wok with 2 tbsp oil. Saute the chopped garlic and shallots. Add in the diced mushrooms, black fungus, minced pork, dried scallops and the cuttlefish filaments. Stir-fry to mix everything together.
5.  Add in the seasoning ingredients and the par-boiled pumpkin seeds.
6.  Mix well, dish up and garnish. 

 Pumpkin seeds which has been par-boiled and drained in a colander

I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

The theme for October 2014 is Pumpkin

Hosted by Eileen's Diary

This event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids 
and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

I am also linking this post to Cook-Your-Book #17

Hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours