Kabocha No Toroni (Japanese squash simmered in rice wine and soy sauce) is a simple side dish that is healthy and delicious. Some cooks prefer to create a marbled effect (above) by paring off patches of the skin. Although this is not necessary, it makes for a beautiful design. This is easily done with a vegetable peeler. The skin of the squash seems very hard, however, as the squash simmers the skin softens and becomes tender and edible.
Kabocha No Toroni
Serves four as a side dish
Adapted from Japanese Vegetarian Cooking by Patricia Richfield
Ingredients
About 1 pound Kabocha (Japanese squash)
2 cups water
1 tablespoon super fine sugar
1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
1/4 cup soy sauce
Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. You can double the recipe if you want to use the entire squash. The squash I purchased weighed about 2 1/2 pounds so I saved the other half for later use. Peel off patches of skin to create a marbled effect if desired. Cut into 2 inch cubes.
In a 3 – 4 quart sauce pan add water, sugar, mirin and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Add squash and return to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer until just tender (al dente) for approximately 10 minutes (cooking time depends upon the size of the cubed squash). Check doneness with a thin knife, don’t over cook!
Remove the squash to a serving bowl, reduce the sauce a bit then drizzle it on the kabocha just before serving and sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds.