compil | GOURMANDE in OSAKA

Kabocha, the sweet Japanese pumpkin are ripe in this season. There are several types. This one is the very common Nankin. So buy one, and have fun.

Everything is edible : flesh, rind and seeds.

It can be sliced and cooked very simply.

with soba (poached)
roast (chick sand)

Purée is very easy to make, just steam and mash with a fork. It’s very versatile :

New dishes 2012-13 :

spicy savory pumpkin tart

pumpkin potato samosa

raw pumpkin pie

pumpkin bread and waffle

kabocha pizza

kabocha biryani

Holiday spicy kabocha potage

Summer kabocha stir-fry, Indian style

kabocha chilled creamy soup

kabocha egg rolls

kabocha salad
millas (cake)
chana dal chilled soup
kabocha yokan (Japanese sweet)

The grated raw flesh of the fresh Summer Nankin kabocha is excellent too.

August veg’
color slaw
shred veggies

Often, you have cooked skin unused because it would have messed the orange color of the dish. It is excellent, use it.

miso soup
salad with fried tofu
mabo tofu

One kabocha is filled with a good cup of seeds. Take them, rinse and grill in the oven-toaster or in a skillet.

grilled
opened with the teeth
the green seed, to enjoy with a little salt

Do you need more ideas to cook a pumpkin :
Compil’ for Cinderella

A heart shaped yakitori lunch.
Tori is bird, yakitori is grilled chicken, the generic name for the Japanese small chicken skewers. All parts are used. You can grill on a brasero, if you have. I use the oven toaster for my individual y-t.

Before you saw yakitori (click on text) :
with negi leeks

gizzards

salt grilled tsukune (meatballs)

sauce tsukune

sesame tsukune

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Today chicken hearts. They are opened flat on small skewers.
You have 2 options :

Shio-yaki. Salt grilled. Just sprinkle coarse natural sea salt, then grill.

In sauce. You can buy a yakitori sauce if you like buying stuff. Or simmer a little soy sauce with mirin, sugar or honey (or a mix) and add a very small amount of starch if you wish it was thicker.
Coat your skewer in that sauce. Start grilling. Paint again with sauce. Finish grilling.

The 2 types.

On the table, also serve the rest of sauce, and shichimi togarashi (7 spice mix), on a side plate. For more flavor, you can dip the skewers before eating. Or not. The flavor of the grilled meat is enough.

Heart color side : salsa soup. Tomato juice, Louisiana chili, tomatillos, green pepper.

Tomatillos would not float (unless supported by green pepper or their “package”. They fell in the bottom of the soup.

Matsutake kayaku gohan. Flavored rice. In the rice cooker, I added soy sauce, mirin, spinach stalks and matsutake mushrooms (sliced stalks). For the color, I mix in spinach leaves at the end. It’s genmai, brown rice here.