Kabocha Squash Soup

 

Kabocha Squash Soup

To go along with my panzanella salad, Riley and I decided that we wanted to have a soup to go along with it. I recently had the most delicious soup I have ever eaten in my entire life (I'm dead serious) at Martin Yan's MY China, and it so happened to be kabocha squash. I just recently started eating kabocha squash, but have never cooked with it before. I wanted to make the soup identical to the one I had had, but alas, I am never very good and exactly replicating anything. I can't even replicate the same meal twice; it will always be slightly different.

Nonetheless, the soup was amazing. The texture is unlike anything I've ever made, it's like silk. Riley and I wanted to add some head to the soup, so we added a habañero pepper to it. You can't really taste it at all, but Riley mentioned he felt some heat after eating his whole bowl. 

I definitely will make this soup again, but not to go along with such a filling salad next time. It is incredibly rich and hearty, so a lighter salad would go better with it in my opinion. 

I found this recipe on a food blog called Pepper Lynn, when I googled kabocha squash soup. It's a simple recipe, and I know I can definitely tweak it next time to my taste (aka more habañero). I also halved her recipe, since there were only two of us eating.

Ingredients:

1 kabocha squash (see below for reference)

2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth

A little more than 1/3 cup coconut milk

1 habañero

1/2 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place the squash, whole, on a metal baking pan and roast for 45-50 minutes until the flesh pierces easily with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20-30 minutes (so that you don't burn yourself on the squash)

3. Use a large knife to carefully cut each squash in half vertically, then use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and stringy bits. Set the seeds aside in a bowl for roasting later on. Scoop out the flesh and place it in a large pot or Dutch oven along with the chicken stock, coconut milk, maple syrup, nutmeg, habañero, salt, and pepper. Heat over medium high heat until boiling, reduce the heat slightly, and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the squash is very tender.

This is what nutmeg looks like on the inside. I just thought it looks so cool and beautiful. 

 

4. Remove the pot from the heat and use an immersion blender to puree the soup to the desired consistency. 

Alternatively, you may process the soup in batches in a regular blender or food processor, then return it to the pot. Once pureed, taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired; you may also add a bit more chicken stock if you prefer a thinner soup.