Japanese Kabocha with Ground Meat (Kabocha no Soboroni)
Kabocha soboroni is a kabocha pumpkin cooked in a seasoned broth with ground meat. It's a hearty kabocha stew that could be used as a side or main dish.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 100 g ground chicken
- 300 mL water
- 1 tsp dashi powder
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp mirin
- 400 g frozen kabocha chunks see note for cooking fresh kabocha
- 1/2 tbsp katakuriko or cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
- oil for sautéing
Instructions
- In a pot, heat oil. Add grated ginger and stir until fragrant, a few seconds.
- Add ground chicken and stir, breaking up the meat into small pieces.
- Mix 300mL water with dashi powder, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. When chicken is mostly cooked, add seasoning mixture.
- Add frozen kabocha chunks to pot. Bring pot to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until you can easily pierce through kabocha with a fork.
- While kabocha is cooking, make a slurry by mixing katakuriko (or cornstarch) with remaining tbsp of water.
- When kabocha is done, remove the kabocha pieces from the pot and into your serving bowl. Add slurry and stir, cooking to thicken the seasoning sauce to your tastes. When sauce is thickened to your liking, pour over your kabocha pieces. (Note: I am often lazy and instead of removing the kabocha, I just stir the slurry right into the cooking pot and serve from there)
- Serve immediately as a main or side dish with rice.
Notes
- If using a fresh whole kabocha, wash your whole kabocha and place in a microwave safe dish. Cover with another microwave safe dish or with a plastic covering safe to use in the microwave. Microwave your kabocha for 7-10 minutes, flipping the kabocha halfway through, or until the rind is soft enough to cut through with a kitchen knife. A 4 lb kabocha takes about 7 minutes to get soft. Remember that 400g of kabocha is a little less than 1lb, so you'll need to save the rest of your kabocha for soup or another recipe. When kabocha is cooled enough to handle, slice in half and scoop out the seeds. Then continue to slice kabocha into smaller pieces. This will add at least 20 minutes to your prep time, but as your kabocha will already be pretty soft, you can decrease the time it takes to cook the kabocha in your seasoning liquid.