Health benefits of kabocha
My mom asked me to buy a kabocha pumpkin from the supermarket one day, but then later texted me that she didn’t need it, but I had already gotten it anyways. We ended up with two kabocha pumpkins, so I took this opportunity to look up a recipe that would use a lot of it.
Kabocha is an excellent source of fiber, vitamin A (boosts immune system, speeds up healing, prevents skin breakouts), and vitamin C (antioxidant). Vitamin C also has properties which help with iron absorption, so if you’re iron-deficient anemic, it is a great vegetable to add into your diet. High levels of beta-carotenes help to reduce oxidative stress on the skin, which lowers inflammation and can prevent skin aging. It’s rather low in calories as well, so if you’re concerned about your caloric intake, it’s a great option for something nutrient-dense without hurting your goals.
I’ve recently been looking for an easy, healthy, yet filling lunch recipe. I needed something that stores and freezes well, and was pretty simple to make. Instead of making it into a dessert (although kabochas are naturally very sweet and creamy, so they are excellent to use in pies or shortbread cookies) I found a kabocha soup recipe, which turned out mouth-watering amazing.
Sweet, savory, creamy, filling, yet healthy and full of nutrients, it’s great to have any time of day. Make a bunch at once and freeze the rest, so you can enjoy it on nights where you’re just too busy or tired to cook (that is me, most nights). You can also make a vegan version of this soup!
I usually cut a few slices of pain de campagne, toast it, and have some cheese with my soup. You can have kabocha soup as a stand-alone light meal, or have it as a side to add something healthy and delicious to your dinner.
Recipe
Ingredients (3-4 servings):
- 250g of kabocha pumpkin (roughly ⅛) — you can usually buy this at your local Japanese (or Asian) grocery. Best ones have hard, thick skin, and feel heavy for size.
- 50g onion (roughly ¼)
- 500ml of milk (or milk alternative)
- 10g of butter (or oil alternative)
- 1 tbsp of flour
- Salt to taste
Directions:
- Remove the seeds from the kabocha pumpkin. Slice off the green skin, and then cut into small pieces.
- Put the kabocha into a glass bowl, cover and microwave until soft (about 2 minutes)
- Melt butter in pot, and cook onions until browned. (*Very important to get the onions to brown and caramelize. It adds so much flavor!)
- Slowly add in the flour to the pot, be careful of powder clumps!
- Add about half of the milk to the pot slowly, and turn down to low heat.
- Add in kabocha, cook for about 2 minutes.
- Put in blender or food processor, add in the rest of the milk. This will cool it down a bit!
- Blendddd and add salt to taste.
- Enjoy!
I promise this recipe is so so so good, and it’s great to have as a stowaway meal so you can pull it out from time to time. I used almond milk instead of regular milk because too much lactose can cause inflammation for me, but it still tasted amazing! If you’re trying to switch to a vegan recipe, swap out butter for coconut oil for a similar taste. Hope you get a chance to try out this recipe!
If you have any questions, comments, concerns, advice, or thoughts– email me at kokumura@kakikata.space! I respond to every email I get!
