As long as I can remember, my grandparents grew kabocha, Japanese pumpkin,  in their garden every year. Kabocha is deep forest green on the outside and bright orange on the inside. Its texture after it is cooked  is more like a sweet potato than a squash.   My grandma used to cook it simmered in shoyu (soy sauce), sake(Japanese rice wine), and dashii(Japanese fish broth).  I used this recipe similar to my grandma’s recipe from Japanese Cooking 101 called kabocha no Nimono.  As the kabocha slowly simmered, the aroma reminded me of my grandma’s cooking.  I substituted honey instead of sugar and omitted the salt in the kabocha no Nimono recipe.   It’s a very savory side dish, both sweet and salty. Absolutely delicious!

But being a paleo enthusiast, I roasted the kabocha.  I used Nom Nom Paleo’s Roasted Kabocha squash recipe.

Roasted Kabocha Squash (Nom Nom Paleo)

Ingredients

1 medium kabocha Japanese pumpkin

2 TBSP coconut oil melted

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

0.  Rinse kabocha in cold water and dry.

1.  Using a fork or small knife, poke around 20 holes through the skin of the kabocha.   Since the kabocha is so hard to cut, I microwaved it for 5 minutes.  Make sure to keep an eye on the kabocha as it microwaves so it won’t explode.

2.  Cut off the top with the stem.  Slice kabocha in half.  Scoop out the seeds.  Slice into thin wedges.

3.  Toss slices in melted coconut oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

4.  Arrange wedges onto foil lined baking tray.

5.  Roast kabocha in oven for 15 minutes.  Flip over and roast for an additional 15 minutes(30 minutes total).  The kabocha should be slightly crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.

Enjoy!