Serves 6

If you are planning on serving your vegetables from a bowl, don't bother with the skewers. Simply place the vegetables in a pan, marinate them, and then place them in a grill basket to cook.

Pumpkin with Peppercorns and Garlic

30 peppercorns

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups fresh pumpkin pieces, cut into 1-inch cubes

  1. Using a mortar and pestle, crush together the peppercorns and the garlic.
  2. Add the vegetable oil to a large sauté pan and heat on high. Add the peppercorn-garlic mixture and stir-fry until the garlic just begins to brown.
  3. Add the pumpkin pieces, stirring to coat.
  4. Add the water and bring the water to a simmer. After the water has been reduced by half, stir in the fish sauce and sugar.
  5. Continue to cook until the pumpkin is tender but not mushy.
  6. Serve as a side dish.

illustration Thai Pumpkins

In Thailand, the differences between pumpkins and squashes are not very well defined — they basically treat them all the same. The Thai version of a pumpkin is Fug Tong, but almost any fleshy hard squash can be substituted (with different, but delicious, results).