Soups with anything but a broth base are a rarity in Chinese and Japanese households, but corn soups and pumpkin soups—favored Western imports—are the exception. (And any orange-fleshed squash might be called a “pumpkin.”) Here, food editor Lillian Chou combines the two and gives them a boost of bracing freshness with lemongrass and cilantro; the result is
velvety and light.