Kabocha squash is a winter squash that I like to keep around for various recipes. I mostly use this in soups and stews, but you can do a lot of other things with this lil guy. When it’s more orange on the outside the flesh will be more red inside and it is sweeter. However, when it’s green outside, the flesh is more of a pale yellow or orange. It’s good in this level of ripeness too, to me anyway. But that’s how you can shop based on ripeness.
This squash is very tough when uncooked, and very tender after a surprisingly short amount of cook time.
I’ve seen this in many Filipino dishes, like stews such as this one. I’ve also seen Japanese restaurants serve variations of this squash stewed in a slightly sweet and salty broth.
How To Cut Kabocha Squash
When first cutting into it, I was surprised at how difficult it was. It’s really hard and my knife got jammed into it. I had to really press my weight into it to get the first cut in. Then I slice them into about 1″ to 1.5″ slices.
After that it’s slightly easier–I whack the knife into the squash just enough to get stuck, then I use the knife to break away cubes. Breaking pieces off like this is much easier (on the ears too) than chopping each cube off on the cutting board.
It’s much easier to use a sharp cleaver knife to cut kabocha squash. I did it so many times. The weight of the knife helps a lot. You have to be careful though.