Pumpkin Kabocha No Nimono

By Mark Bittman

Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(48)
Notes
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Featured in: The Heart of the Jack-o’-Lantern

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Ingredients

Yield:About 4 servings.
  • 2cups dashi (optional, but very nice; recipe below)
  • 8cups 1-inch cubes pumpkin flesh
  • 3tablespoons soy sauce, plus more for serving
  • 2tablespoons mirin
  • 1tablespoon rice vinegar
  • ½pound rib-eye, thinly sliced (optional)
  • Chopped fresh scallions
  • ¼cup dried bonito flakes

    • For the Dashi

    • 1small piece dried kelp (konbu), about 2 inches long
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine the kelp and 2 cups water in a saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the mixture is about to boil, turn off the heat and let the kelp sit for 10 minutes. Add the bonito flakes and stir; let sit for a couple of minutes, then strain.

  2. Step 3

    Add the beef to the bubbling broth and cook just until it loses its raw color. Add the beef and broth to the bowl with the pumpkin. Garnish with scallions, and serve, passing extra soy sauce at the table, if you like.

  3. For the Pumpkin

    1. Step 2

      Put the pumpkin and 2 cups dashi or water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Add the soy sauce, mirin and rice vinegar, and continue to boil until the pumpkin is tender, 15 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pumpkin to a serving bowl with a slotted spoon.

Ratings

4 out of 5
48 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Christa

Mark says in his Kitchen Matrix cookbook that a 4-pound pumpkin will yield about 8 cups of cubes. He recommends cutting the pumpkin just as if you were carving a jack-o'-lantern: cut a circle around the stem, then pull up on the stem and discard it. Using the cavity as a handle, peel the pumpkin with a sturdy vegetable peeler. Then cut the pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds.

Christa

Mark says in his Kitchen Matrix cookbook that a 4-pound pumpkin will yield about 8 cups of cubes. He recommends cutting the pumpkin just as if you were carving a jack-o'-lantern: cut a circle around the stem, then pull up on the stem and discard it. Using the cavity as a handle, peel the pumpkin with a sturdy vegetable peeler. Then cut the pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds.

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