The weather is getting cooler and the leaves are starting to fall. Fall has arrived and that means pumpkin and squash season upon us! Fall is my favorite season and I especially love all kinds of seasonal ingredients only available this time of the year in Japan. Kabocha, Matsutake mushrooms, chestnuts, Sanma (pacific saury), just to mention a few.
What’s Kabocha?
Kabocha is an Asian variety of winter squash. The Japanese simply call it Kabocha (南瓜、かぼちゃ、カボチャ) and the word kabocha refers to all kinds of pumpkins in Japan. In Australia and New Zealand, kabocha is commonly called Japanese pumpkin and here in North America, we refer to it as Kabocha Squash or Kabocha. Kabocha has dull-finished deep green skin (it’s edible!) and really bright yellow-orange color flesh on the inside. It has a naturally sweet flavor, even sweeter than butternut squash, and it’s often used for desserts and baked goods in Japan. Be forewarned, even though it doesn’t look it, kabocha is really hard. If you are going to cut it for the first time, please be careful with the knife. Keep your fingers away from the knife’s sharp edge.
Kabocha’s Health Benefits
Kabocha doesn’t just look pretty and taste good, it is also an excellent source of beta-carotene which can be converted to vitamin A in the human body. Vitamin A is important for healthy white blood cells and good immunity. Kabocha is also a good source of iron, vitamin C, and some B vitamins and it has lots of fiber! Over the past few years, I’ve seen kabocha available not just in Asian grocery stores, but they are also available at my local grocery stores during this season. If you love butternut squash and other vegetables similar to pumpkins, definitely try and make this easy soup recipe or other kabocha recipes. For this recipe, I removed the peel to get the nice intense yellow-orange color for the soup, but you could include the (totally edible) skin as well so you don’t waste the food AND extra nutrition! Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. Editor’s Note: Original post was published on Oct 1, 2014.
