Japanese-style simmered squash
Dec. 7th, 2011 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitThis is delicious, full of nutrients (you get all the nutrients the squash has, including in the peel), easy, and generally a great winter dish (insert hemispherical disclaimer here).
A note on ingredients: most should be readily available in an Asian grocery or natural foods store. The bonito flakes for the dashi are, in my experience, the hardest thing to locate. If you can't find kabocha, you could substitute another sweetish, orange-fleshed winter squash like acorn, butternut, or a small pumpkin. But I'm not sure if the peel will soften enough to be edible like kabocha peel does. Finally, although I highly recommend using dashi, you could try a plain chicken broth flavored with soy sauce and mirin, or a mild fish or seafood broth. Or vegetable broth (preferably konbu-based), although you won't get the same roundness of flavor.
First of all, you need dashi. You can make it up to four days ahead (or longer, but bring it to a boil every three to four days to keep it from going bad).
Dashi
6 cups water
1 piece konbu (dried kelp) about as big as your hand
1 ounce dried bonito (fish) flakes
1/4 cup cold water
Put the konbu in the 6 cups water and bring slowly to a simmer. This should take 20-30 minutes. Remove konbu from water before it comes to a rolling boil. Just as the water comes to a rolling boil, remove it from heat, add 1/4 cup cold water and the bonito flakes, and let sit for 1-2 minutes. Strain and reserve the broth. (Note: you can reuse these ingredients for a second batch of dashi, not quite as flavorful but perfectly good for miso soups, simmering, etc. Put the konbu and bonito back in the pot along with another 6 cups water, bring to a bare simmer and simmer for about 30 minutes, remove from heat, add 1/4 cup cold water and a handful of fresh bonito flakes. Let sit 1-2 minutes and strain.)
Kabocha Simmered in Dashi
1 recipe dashi
Soy sauce (I like a mix of tamari and regular Japanese soy sauce)
Mirin (the low-alcohol mirin made for cooking is easiest to find, and it's what I use, but I'm told the real stuff is a million times better)
Salt if desired
1 small or 1/2 large kabocha
Bring the dashi to a simmer and flavor to taste with soy sauce and mirin. Generally you want about twice as much soy sauce as mirin, but I make the dashi a little sweeter than usual for this to complement the kabocha. You can use a bit of salt and less soy sauce if you like.
Meanwhile, cut the unpeeled kabocha into quarters and then into thickish (half an inch or so) slices. Put the slices into the simmering dashi--they should be more or less entirely covered. Cover the pot, leaving a small gap for steam to escape, and let barely simmer (few to no bubbles) until the squash is tender. Scarf the squash down with broth and condiments of your choice (e.g. shichimi togarishi or hot Japanese or Chinese-style mustard).
This is probably wildly untraditional, but I think it's nice to add the broth and squash pieces to a bowlful of soba noodles.
A note on ingredients: most should be readily available in an Asian grocery or natural foods store. The bonito flakes for the dashi are, in my experience, the hardest thing to locate. If you can't find kabocha, you could substitute another sweetish, orange-fleshed winter squash like acorn, butternut, or a small pumpkin. But I'm not sure if the peel will soften enough to be edible like kabocha peel does. Finally, although I highly recommend using dashi, you could try a plain chicken broth flavored with soy sauce and mirin, or a mild fish or seafood broth. Or vegetable broth (preferably konbu-based), although you won't get the same roundness of flavor.
First of all, you need dashi. You can make it up to four days ahead (or longer, but bring it to a boil every three to four days to keep it from going bad).
Dashi
6 cups water
1 piece konbu (dried kelp) about as big as your hand
1 ounce dried bonito (fish) flakes
1/4 cup cold water
Put the konbu in the 6 cups water and bring slowly to a simmer. This should take 20-30 minutes. Remove konbu from water before it comes to a rolling boil. Just as the water comes to a rolling boil, remove it from heat, add 1/4 cup cold water and the bonito flakes, and let sit for 1-2 minutes. Strain and reserve the broth. (Note: you can reuse these ingredients for a second batch of dashi, not quite as flavorful but perfectly good for miso soups, simmering, etc. Put the konbu and bonito back in the pot along with another 6 cups water, bring to a bare simmer and simmer for about 30 minutes, remove from heat, add 1/4 cup cold water and a handful of fresh bonito flakes. Let sit 1-2 minutes and strain.)
Kabocha Simmered in Dashi
1 recipe dashi
Soy sauce (I like a mix of tamari and regular Japanese soy sauce)
Mirin (the low-alcohol mirin made for cooking is easiest to find, and it's what I use, but I'm told the real stuff is a million times better)
Salt if desired
1 small or 1/2 large kabocha
Bring the dashi to a simmer and flavor to taste with soy sauce and mirin. Generally you want about twice as much soy sauce as mirin, but I make the dashi a little sweeter than usual for this to complement the kabocha. You can use a bit of salt and less soy sauce if you like.
Meanwhile, cut the unpeeled kabocha into quarters and then into thickish (half an inch or so) slices. Put the slices into the simmering dashi--they should be more or less entirely covered. Cover the pot, leaving a small gap for steam to escape, and let barely simmer (few to no bubbles) until the squash is tender. Scarf the squash down with broth and condiments of your choice (e.g. shichimi togarishi or hot Japanese or Chinese-style mustard).
This is probably wildly untraditional, but I think it's nice to add the broth and squash pieces to a bowlful of soba noodles.
