Slice miniature pumpkin tops off. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and fibre inside the miniature pumpkins. Place the lid back on top of the miniature pumpkins.
Brush each miniature pumpkin with olive oil on the outside. Wrap each miniature pumpkin tightly in foil and place in an oven tray next to each other. Add a cup of boiling water to the oven tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until tender.
Wash and slice shiitake mushrooms into thin slices. If you use dried shiitake mushrooms, you will need to soak them in water until they are soft and then slice.
Cut silken tofu into 1 cm cubes.
In a medium sized pot, add 1 cup of kombu tsuyu and 3 cups of water. Add shiitake mushrooms to kombu tsuyu and bring to a boil. Cook shiitake mushrooms for about 5 minutes until they start to soften. Reduce to low heat and add silken tofu, leeks and edamame beans. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until the leek softens. Silken tofu and edamame beans do not take long to cook. Turn off heat and set aside for assembly.
Once miniature pumpkins are ready, remove from the oven and foil. Take the lid off and gently fill the inside of the baked miniature pumpkins with shiitake, tofu, leek and edamame broth. Continue to fill all miniature pumpkins. Sprinkle a dash of shichimi togarashi over the top.
Serve hot.
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Notes
For a vegetarian option, use a vegan tsuyu base as traditional tsuyu is made with bonito flakes. The vegan version would be made with shiitake and kombu to recreate the umami flavours.
If you can’t find fresh shiitake and don’t have dried shiitake readily available, replace them in the recipe with your favourite mushroom. Swiss brown, white button, or baby oyster mushrooms would work well.
You can swap silken tofu with regular tofu as well.