Repost: Kabocha Soup

It is finally hoodie weather, well, at least in the morning. Time for kabocha. I posted this one in 2009 so it is time to make sure everyone knows about it. It is so easy and satisfying on a cold day.

 

Kabocha Soup

Serves two.

1/4 kabocha, peeled and chopped

1/4-1/2 small onion, diced

a little oil

1 chicken bullion cube (vegetable also tastes great and makes this a vegan recipe)

2 cups water

fresh ground pepper to taste

milk or soy milk, optional

In a soup pot, saute the onion in the oil until transparent. Add the kabocha, bullion cube and water.  Simmer until the kabocha is cooked – it should break in half when you put a fork in it. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a bit.  Puree everything using a blender, food processor or immersion blender.  Reheat if necessary. This will be on the thick side.  You can thin it with water or milk/soy milk/cream if desired.

Additive Free Miso

I make my own miso, so I haven’t bought any in years. I was surprised to learn that not all miso still has a live bacterial culture. Some of it has flavoring and additives. Last time I went to the supermarket I snapped some pictures of the ones that were still living and are additive free. As an aside, I didn’t see any that were one or the other.

What to look for:

生 (nama)- live (as in live culture)
無添加 (mutenka) – additive free
酵母が生きている (koubo ga ikiteiru) – the yeast is living
生詰 or 生詰め (namatzume) – “packed with life”, as in the culture is still alive

Note: the miso I make has three ingredients soy beans, rice malt and salt. Some misos will have barley as well.

Curried Pan Fried Japanese Pond Smelt

I whipped this up one morning to put in lunches. As it was cooking, I found myself getting excited for lunch. It smells great. Not having grown up near the ocean, it sometimes doesn’t occur to me to buy fish. I love fish but we rarely ate it when I was a child. I went through a fish poor couple of weeks and decided to try something new. Small fish are good for you so I picked up some Japanese pond smelt (ワカサギ wakasagi) on a whim. When I find a new ingredient, I often turn to Cookpad.com (I use the app so it is the Japanese version but the English site is supposed to be great). This recipe is so simple and tasty.  It takes less than five minutes from start to finish.

Homemade Sushi Vinegar

I had been craving homemade sushi rolls for quite some time but after two weeks of not remembering to pick some sushi vinegar up, I decided to make my own. I searched Cookpad.com and found a good one.

Kabu and onion soup

I wanted something nice and light for lunch yesterday so I decided to try making a soup that I had the day before at Earthen Place Cafe here in Zushi. It was a kabu (a white turnip) and onion soup so I gave it a try and was happy with the results. Click here for a picture of the kabu. Despite the texture resembling the daikon radish, which takes a long time to cook through and become tender, kabus cook very quickly. This soup can easily be vegan, gluten-free or any other allergen free simply by changing your bullion cube.

500mL water
1 bullion cube 
1 medium onion
1 medium to large kabu
salt and pepper, to taste

Put the water in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. While you are waiting for the water to boil, peel and thinly slice the onion into half moon shapes. When the water has boiled, add the onion and bullion cube and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer until the onion turns translucent. I let mine get soft because I don’t like onions that are still firm. While the onion is cooking, peel the kabu, cut in half, then each half into thirds. Finally slice thinly. You basically need to cut a thin slice into six pieces. Once the onion is ready, add the kabu and simmer until it becomes tender. This should only take about five minutes.

Other soups you may enjoy:

• Split Pea Soup

• Kabocha Coconut Curry Soup

• Meatball udon

• Broccoli Soup

• Green Pea Soup

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