Ingredients

1 cup adzuki beans, soak overnight on the bench

1 piece of kombu/kelp seaweed (~5x10cm)

~¼ small kent pumpkin (or a wedge of any type)

1 onion, sliced chunky (omit if FODMAP sensitive)

2 Tb raw organic sesame oil (or olive oil)

½-1 tsp sea salt (to taste)

1-2 Tb tamari (to taste)

1-2 Tb ume vinegar (or a squeeze of lemon)

fresh parsley

Discard the bean soaking water and add the beans to a pot just covered with fresh water. Bring to the boil then discard the water and replace with 6 cups of fresh cold water. Add the kombu, bring to the boil again and simmer for about 30 min until the beans are very soft.

Meanwhile, wash the pumpkin skin and bake the pumpkin whole on a baking tray with skin on at 180 degrees C until very soft, about 40-60 min.

Sauté the onion on low heat in a little oil until starting to brown, then add a pinch of salt and stir to glaze the onion. Pour in the soft beans (plus the water and kombu, which will dissolve). Cut the baked pumpkin into chunks and add to the stew. Add sea salt, tamari and ume vinegar and simmer on very low heat uncovered for 10-20 min to amalgamate the flavours and melt the pumpkin and reduce the liquid into a fine thick broth. Adjust the salty condiments to taste. Ume vinegar is salty and sour and gives the stew a lovely richness and complexity. Remove from the heat, cover and let the stew rest for at least 10 min before serving with fresh parsley.

Notes: Keeping the pumpkin skin on is optional but will give you extra nutrients, fibre and flavour, especially if the pumpkin is organic. If you don't have time to bake the pumpkin, add raw chunks to the beans while they're cooking.