I had more than half of a Kabocha left in the fridge for a whilw and had to make something. Kabocha is a type of a Japanese variety of a winter squash. It’s less watery than other winter squash and sweeter. One of the common ways to eat kabocha in Japan is to simmer kabocha alone with soy sauce and sugar (nimono 煮物). I like the dish but I wanted to make something little different.
When simmering Kabocha, it’s also common to cook it with ground meat. I thought a veganized version of that dish may work although I’ve never tried it. Since I don’t eat meat, I used tempeh to mimic ground meat. “Soboro (そぼろ)” is ground meat simmered with soy sauce and sugar. So I made tempeh soboro.
There are different types of kabocha that you can find in the states. I’ve seen the ones with green skin, orange skin and brownish skin. I used green skin one which is a variety found in Japan today.
It’s quick to make and tasty! I have the step-by-step instructions here but the shorter version of the recipe and the listing of the ingredients are also available at the bottom of this post. Let’s begin!
1. Cut kabocha into not too small pieces (about 1 to 2 inches long). You don’t want to cut them too small. If they are too small, they crumble and your dish will turn into to mashed kabocha.
You can leave the skin on but remove any woody spots (see below).
2. Crumble tempeh by hand or mince them with a knife
3. Sauté tempeh and grated ginger with oil or water in a pot over low to medium heat until it becomes lightly brown. I used about 1/8 teaspoon of oil and added water.
You can use any type of a grater to grate ginger but a fine one works better.
4. Add soy sauce and coconut sugar and continue to sauté over low heat. It will burn quickly so keep stirring and cook over low heat.
5. Add Japanese style basic vegan dashi (broth) into the pot and turn the heat up to boil
6. Add Kabocha and reduce the heat to low to medium heat after boiling
Cove the surface with a aluminum foil
7. Mix potato starch and water well.
8. When kabocha becomes soft (about 10 minutes), pour potato starch water into the pot and gently stir. When the liquid gets thicken, remove from heat.
You can serve it while it’s warm or when they are at room temperature. This this will be good for bento as it’s still tasty even it’s not warm.
Kabocha and tempeh soaked up the sauce and little salty and sweet. This dish is meant to be eaten with rice. The sauce is thickened with potato starch so it’s perfect to eat it over rice and make a donburi (rice bowl).
I actually like to eat this with greens (lettuce, steamed spinach etc.). Its salty and sweet taste goes well with plain greens. I hope you enjoy it!
- ¼ (about 14 oz or 400g) Kabocha including skin and seeds
- 4 oz (114g) tempeh
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 cup (240 cc) basic dashi (Japanese style broth)
- 1 tablespoon & 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon & 2 teaspoon coconut sugar or other sweetener
- *Thickening Agent*
- 1 tablespoon potato starch
- 2 tablespoon water
- Remove seeds and cut kabocha into not too small pieces (about 1 to 2 inches). Leave the skin on but remove any woody spots.
- Crumble tempeh by hand or mince them with a knife
- Sauté tempeh and ginger with oil or water in a pot over low to medium heat until it becomes lightly brown
- Add soy sauce and coconut sugar and continue to sauté over low heat
- Add dashi into the pot and turn the heat up to boil
- Add Kabocha and reduce the heat to low to medium heat after boiling
- Mix potato starch and water well.
- When kabocha becomes soft (about 10 minutes), pour potato starch water into the pot and gently stir. When the liquid gets thicken, remove from heat.
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