Autumn Equinox · Lunch · Yang Deficiency
Ginger pumpkin sauce with prawns over rice
Golden pumpkin sauce with ginger juice and prawns, spooned over hot rice — warming, comforting and done at home in 25 minutes.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Simmer
- Easy
WarmingWarms & dispels coldWarms spleen & kidneys
Why it suits you: Yang Deficiency means feeling the cold, with cold hands and feet, and the change of season plus office air-conditioning makes it worse. Pumpkin, prawns and ginger are all warming; a little pepper and chives make a hot plate of rice that warms without overheating.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 15 min- 1Peel, deseed and thinly slice the pumpkin. Add 3 tbsp water and microwave on high for 5–6 minutes until soft, then mash with its juices.
- 2Grate the ginger and press out the juice with a spoon. Pat the prawns dry and mix with a pinch of salt, the cornflour and half the ginger juice.
- 3Heat a little oil in a wok and fry the garlic and ginger pulp until fragrant. Add the pumpkin mash and 200 ml water and stir until bubbling.
- 4Add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes until pink and curled, then add the chives, the rest of the ginger juice, white pepper and salt, and cook for 30 seconds.
- 5Spoon over hot rice and eat straight away.
Cautions
- Allergic to prawns or other shellfish? Use diced chicken instead.
Chef's tips
- A quick lunch to make at home — reheated prawns turn rubbery, so it is not one for the lunchbox.
- Thaw frozen prawns in the fridge overnight, then rub with salt and cornflour and rinse for a springier bite.
The TCM view
Pumpkin is sweet and warm and builds qi; prawns are sweet and warm and support kidney yang; old ginger is pungent and warm and dispels cold; Chinese chives are pungent and warm and warm the kidneys; a little pepper warms the stomach. Sweet with pungent warmth nourishes spleen and kidney yang without drying.
