Japanese Kabocha Pumpkin Recipes

SIMMERED KABOCHA PUMPKIN AND FRIED TOFU WITH SWEET SOY SAUCE

Steps:

• Soak kabocha in a bowl of water for 15 minutes. Drain.
• Combine kabocha squash, dashi stock, fried tofu, onion, sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Cover with aluminum foil. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until kabocha squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove aluminum foil carefully.
• Cool before serving, about 10 minutes.

JAPANESE STYLE SIMMERED SWEET KABOCHA

Steps:

• Cut kabocha into small chunks about 1 and 1/2 inch cube.
• Leave skin on (the texture of the cooked skin is great!).
• Put dashi soup stock, sugar, soy sauce, and kabocha chunks in a pan.
• Place the pan in high heat and bring it to boil.
• Turn down the heat to low.
• Simmer kabocha until the liquid is almost gone.
• Serve warm or cold. (I prefer it cold).

JAPANESE (KABOCHA) PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Cut pumpkin in half. Clean out seeds and rinse leaving the skin on. Cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a large pot over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Add pumpkin and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring once. Continue to simmer another 10 minutes or until done. Pumpkin is done when it is easily pierced with a fork or toothpick. Do not overcook or the pumpkin will become mushy.
• Dried shrimp, ebi, can be found in the oriental section of most supermarkets. You can use shrimp bullion or fish stock instead.
• Nutrition information: Calories 70, Fat 2 g., Cholesterol 6 mg., sodium 97 mg. 1 bread exchange. ww points 2.

PAN-FRIED KABOCHA (JAPANESE PUMPKIN)

Steps:

• Give the kabocha a quick rinse and slice off any superficial scars that you don't want to eat.
• Cut the kabocha in half and cut off the stem. Be careful as the kabocha is very hard and can be difficult to cut. Mom likes to insert the knife point first, then cut the rest of kabocha with the knife like a lever.
• Scoop out the seeds with a spoon like a regular pumpkin. The meat should be a light golden yellow-orange.
• Cut the kabocha into large cubes (about 1 - 1½ inch cubes). You can also cut the kabocha into slices like many fancy restaurants do, but cubes are much easier to deal with.
• Chop a large handful of green onions and separate into 2 piles: a larger pile to cook, and a smaller pile for the garnish when plating.
• On a large pan, add a healthy amount of cooking oil.
• When the oil is hot, add the large pile of green onions and stir for several seconds.
• Add all of the pumpkin cubes and stir until the oil completely coats all of the kabocha's surface areas.
• Add shoyu and stir. The amount of shoyu will depend on the size of your kabocha and how salty you want this dish to be. Mom doesn't even measure this anymore and instead just pours some shoyu into the pan straight from the bottle. What you want is just enough shoyu to spread around the whole dish so you can just taste the saltiness, which will match the natural sweetness of the kabocha.
• Adjust the heat to medium and cover for about 15 minutes.
• Check to see if your kabocha is ready by pushing a chopstick all the way through. It should go in and exit out the skin with no resistance. If it's not ready, cover the pan once more and let it cook as needed.Now is a good time to do a taste test and add a pinch of sugar/sweetener if you have an unsweet kabocha (see bottom notes).
• Plate your kabocha and sprinkle the remaining green onions on top to add a bit more color.

MIKA'S KABOCHA CAKE (PUMPKIN CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8-inch cake pan with cooking spray.
• Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Stir in mashed pumpkin. Mix in honey, milk, oil, and egg until batter is smooth.
• Pour batter into the greased cake pan. Gently press cashews into the batter for decoration.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan, 5 to 10 minutes.