Pumpkin Shoot Broth -Bouyon Bred Zironmon

This Pumpkin Shoot Broth- Bouyon Bred Zironmon – is a traditional, easy, healthy and wonderfully nutritious broth style dish cooked with fried fish  and flavoured with fresh ginger and garlic and eaten with boiled rice accompanied with fresh chilli sauce.

What is Bred?

Bred is a Creole word that refers to a large variety of the tender leaves and shoots of some edible plants that are used as leaf vegetables.  The word bred may be Portuguese in origin bredo or brada, or possibly Indian brette, meaning good to eat.  The main types of bred or greens that are consumed  in the Seychelles  are: Bred moroum, bred lanmar, bred paryater, bred martin, bred soudsin, bred sousout, bred zironmon, bred mayok, cresson or watercress and bred gondole. Click here to learn more about these greens.

Bred Zironmon

For this dish we are using bred zironmon (Fr. giraumon) which is the tender shots, or growing tips and tender leaves of the pumpkin plant.  The pumpkin plant is a very versatile plant. Few people are aware that, in addition to the pumpkin itself, you can eat the young stems, leaves, flowers, the seeds (roasted), shoots and tendrils. The pumpkin  plant will always put out a new shoots after the vine has been harvested.

Bred zironmon lacks any bitterness that other greens tend to have. In fact, it has quite a sweetish flavour that can be described as a cross between squash and spinach. This bred has to be prepared properly before cooking. If you take a very close look at pumpkin leaves you will notice little “thorns” or fuzz along the spine, as shown in the photo above.  These thorns are softer the closer you are to the tip of the shoot.  This is why you need to only use the very young leaves and shoots. Younger leaves are more tender and ideal for cooking.

Selection and storage

Always, buy fresh unwilted leaves featuring green colour, vitality, and crispiness. Avoid those with dull/sunken leaves, yellow discoloration, and spots. Although they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week, fresh shoots should be eaten at the earliest in order to get maximum nutrition benefits. Like any leafy green, the volume of this vegetable reduces by half after cooking.

What is BOUYON?

The   bouyon, in all its forms, is probably the most popular dish among the Seychellois and is consumed almost daily.  It is always consumed with plain boiled rice, accompanied by a variety of chutney, including pumpkin or aubergine chutney, and a freshly made hot chilli sauce.

THE CLASSICAL BOUILLON

Bouyon derives from the French word ‘Bouillon’ which comes from a 17th-century French word that means “liquid in which something has been boiled”. While it can be used as a base for making soups and sauces, bouillon itself is simply a clear, seasoned broth with no solid ingredients. Bouillon and broth are synonymous.

THE COURT-BOUILLON

To complicate matters we also have the word court-bouillon which, in the strictest sense, is a broth made by cooking various vegetables and herbs (a whole onion studded with whole cloves, celery, carrots, and a bouquet garni) in water for about 30 minutes. It is used for poaching fish, seafood, or vegetables and, in some cases, the broth is spiked with wine, lemon juice, or vinegar. “Court” is the French word for ‘short,’ and it describes the preparation time for bouillon, which is very short.

SEYCHELLOIS CREOLE BOUYON

In seychelles we have three types of bouyons – the bouyon blan, the bouyon koko and the bouyon bred:

BOUYON BLAN

As the name implies, this bouyon is a white broth and is made with fresh fish flavoured with herbs, chopped green or ripe tomatoes, garlic, ginger and, as is this case, a neutral vegetable, luffa. Sometimes small cubes of potatoes are added to emphasise the white as well as to slightly thicken the dish. It has a slight tarty flavour which is obtained either from the tomatoes or from the  bilenbi ,also known as tree cucumber. Most fish can be cooked in a bouyon blan except the sharks and dark flesh fish like tuna.

BOUYON KOKO

The bouyon koko is a curry which is made with coconut milk and which has a very thin sauce. It is usually made with tuna or bonito and flavoured with turmeric and cinnamon leaves.

BOUYON BRED

The bouyon  bred can either be a plain bouyon or a fish bouyon. The plain bouyon can be made with a variety of local spinach locally known as bred . The plain bouyon bred is in fact a soup and is at times flavoured with oil in which fish has been fried. The fish bouyon is made in the same manner as the plain bouyon bred with the addition of fried bite size pieces of fish. This recipe is a bouyon with fried fish.

OUR CHOICE OF FISH

For this recipe we have used the Trevally-karang. However, the most common fish used in bouyon in Seychelles is the cordonnier –kordonnyen-or rabbit fish also known as stinging bream, black spinefoot or happy moments. Other  fish, especially those from the emperor family especially the Red Snapper , are also popular.

The Trevally- Karang

The  Trevally has a mild flavoured flesh, with minimal bones,  and has a slightly sweet taste with large flakes that fall apart easily when cooked. My preferred Trevally is the bludger trevally- Karang Balo– because it has a fairly oily flesh that stays moist when fried.

Although in some countries the Trevally is regarded as a poor table fish , in Seychelles they are all highly regarded. It does , however, depend a lot on how they are cooked.

It is recommended, that in order to obtain peak quality, to always bleed it immediately after capture. Some people like to remove the bloodline. I do not mind it, although the texture is different to the other part of the fish.

Preparing the pumpkin shoot broth -bouyon bred zironmon

Clean and fry the fish

Wash the fish, pat dry and chop into bite size cubes. Traditionally, especially if you are using small fish, the  bones are not removed because they impart an extra layer of flavour to the dish.

Season the fish with salt and pepper. In a deep pot, add and heat enough oil for deep frying and deep-fry the fish until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on absorbent paper and keep. The fish must be still moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. The main reasons why we fry the fish are because the frying process imparts an extra flavour dimension to the bouyon as well as minimising the possibility of the fish breaking up during the cooking process. Keep some of the oil for you to use in the bouyon.

Preparing the Pumpkin greens or shoots

Make sure to get a big bundle because pumpkin greens  cook down and the volume reduces by close to half. They require a bit of work before cooking because, as mentioned already, they are covered in fuzz which has a prickly texture. 

Once you have picked or purchased your pumpkin greens, thoroughly wash them under running water because they often carry soil and other little bits. Do not skip this step, because chewing soil is not very pleasant.

The next step after washing is to pick through and discard any tough, large stems and matured leaves from the vine shoots and using only young shoots and tender leaves.

Peel the shoots

You will then need to trim and peel the shoots. The flesh at the very tip of the shoot, which is about the first 8 cm, is tender and requires no peeling, but the rest of the shoot requires some peeling.  I suggest that you cut the shoots in 4cm lengths. Cut the tips off , do not remove any tendrils or the fuzz because they can be eaten, and place in a container. Keep the unopened flowers and baby pumpkin, they add extra texture and colour to the bouyon.

The peeling is to remove the fibrous outer layer of the shoots. This is done by holding the stem and breaking it into two. You will find that the fibrous outer layer will will not snap. You can then peel  off the outer fibrous outer layer by pulling it from the stems down to the back of the leaves. This process will remove all the fuzz as well as the fibrous outer layer leaving only the tender inner part of the shoots. Go all around the stem until all the fuzz is gone.

Repeat the process until you reach the part when the shoot gets too fibrous and tough. Discard them.

Peel the leaf stalks

You may have to also peel the leaf stalks, the part that connects the leaf to the stem. To do this you have to hold the leaf upside down by its stalk. Use your thumbnail to split half or a third of the stalk, which is hollow, and snap it backward so that the flesh breaks cleanly, but the outer fibers do not. Pull gently, removing the fibers from the outside of the stalk and the back of the leaf. Repeat until you have de-strung  all of your bunch

Finish the Bouyon

Heat oil in a large pot and sweat onion and then add ginger, and garlic , stir for a minute,  and add boiling water  and cfroied fish and let simmer for abut 10 minutes.

Add the pumpkin shoots and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste.

Serve your bouyon hot with boiled rice , aubergine chutney and hot chilli sauce.

Health benefits of Pumpkin shoots

Pumkin shoots are high in essential nutrients and low in calories. They  are high in essential vitamins such as A and C. They also contain a high amount of calcium, as well as  iron, making them a healthy and beneficial addition to one’s diet. Iron aids the muscles in storing and using oxygen, and also helps in carrying oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body. Furthermore , they are also rich in protein, making them an excellent supplement for enhancing the body’s daily requirement.

Here is the recipe for Pumpkin Shoot Broth –Bouyon Bred Zironmon

Did you make this recipe?

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