1261. KABOCHA SQUASH and BACON

serves two


10 crescent-cut kabocha squash pieces
4 slices of bacon cut into bite size
3-4 shimeji mushrooms
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of sake

Cook the slices of bacon on low to medium heat to your preference. My wife likes it crispy and I like it not crispy, so we compromise and cook until they are slightly crispy. When the bacon is done, your pan should be filled with bacon grease so dump those out to a bowl or container. Don't use the paper towl to completely soak all of the grease. You need a bit of oil in there.

Keep the bacon in the pan, and turn the heat back to medium and stirfry the kabocha slices and mushrooms for 3 to 5 minutes until the kabocha starts to turn slightly brown.

Splash about 2 table spoon of sake in the pan (be careful!) and let the alcohol burn off. I said to use the real sake instead of cooking sake because cooking sake usually has some salt in it, and that could make this dish taste slightly salty.

When most of the liquid has evaporated, lower the heat to low, and add butter. Stir the pan gently so the melting butter can spread around evenly. When most of the butter has melted, seal the pan with a lid, and let it simmer for about 3 minutes until kabocha gets soft.


courtesy of: JW's Easy Japanese Recipes, Seattle, Washington