Sweet Simmered Kabocha recipe

What do I do with half a kabocha?

I used half of my kabocha for the nishime and half was left staring at me from the top shelf of my refrigerator. I didn't want to make it into soup - I wasn't in the mood for soup today.  Besides, the last time I made kabocha soup, Butterfly went from loving the soup to deciding she hated it. Kids!

So, I decided to make sweet simmered kabocha.  It's really easy to make (easy is always tops on my list!) You just scoop out the seeds from the pumpkin, cut it up into 1" chunks, pop it into the saucepan, pour in the water, sugar, and shoyu and then simmer until tender. The whole job takes about 1/2 hour.

Kabocha chunks

I didn't peel any of the skin off the kabocha before cooking it.  That was probably a mistake.  In the past I've peeled parts of the skin off and have had fine results.  This kabocha may have been sitting on my kitchen counter a little longer than it should have with resulting tough skin.  It's really not necessary to peel all the skin off this type of pumpkin. Of course, your milage may differ.

Finished dish: Sweet Simmered Kabocha

Sweet Simmered Kabocha

1/2 kabocha (1 lb.), seeds removed
1 cup water
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce

 Cut kabocha into about 1 inch cubes. Peel kabocha skin around the edges. Put water, sugar, soy sauce, and kabocha in a medium pot. Heat on high heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cover with lid. Simmer kabocha for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid is almost gone.