One of my favorite fall ingredients is kabocha (sometimes called kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin). I have many kabocha recipes that I want to share with you, but let’s start with this delicious and easy Kabocha Salad.
Watch How To Make Kabocha Salad
Sweet golden kabocha salad with sliced cucumber, crispy bacon, combined with Japanese mayo.
Kabocha Salad – The Japanese’s Fall Time Favorite
Have you tried kabocha before? Kabocha has a dull-finished, deep green skin with an intense yellow-orange flesh. It has a sweet taste, even sweeter than butternut squash, while the texture and flavor is a cross between a pumpkin and a sweet potato. Japanese love eating kabocha for its many health benefits. It’s high in beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamins B1 and B2, and more. Beta-carotene can be converted to vitamin A in the body and vitamin A is important for healthy white blood cells, good immunity and vibrant eyes, skin and hair. It’s really good stuff! Whenever kabocha is in season, I will rush to the farmers market to pick up one or two to make some of my favorite fall recipes. A typical kabocha salad includes kabocha, sliced cucumbers, and raisins and that’s how my mom used to make. Sometimes kabocha salad also includes diced onion. Since my husband is not a huge fan of raisins, I replaced raisins with bacon instead. I love the salty flavor of the bacon in the naturally sweet kabocha. The crispy bits of bacon definitely adds another dimension to the typical kabocha salad. You can definitely leave it out for the vegetarian version. To prepare this salad, the squash is boiled until soft; it is then mashed (some chunks are good) before combining with cucumber slices, bacon (if added) and seasoned with Japanese mayo, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Very simple, yet utterly flavorful. The slightly creamy and sweet flavor of this Kabocha Salad makes it equally fitting to serve as a side dish for your holiday dinner.
Just a word of caution: Kabocha has really hard skin. It requires a razor-sharp knife and a strong force to cut it open. So just be extra careful when you cut the squash. Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here. Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
