the non-japanese cook

notes from my kitchen

full recipes

autumnal eats: easy soy simmered squash recipe

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This Japanese-style vegetable side dish is one of my favourite ways to use squash or pumpkin. If you’ve hacked apart these giant baubles in the past but only ever roasted or made soup from the flesh, you absolutely have to try this alternative recipe. I’m going to show you how to get the ultimate dense, soft texture and rich sweet/salty/umami flavour out of your chosen squash using nothing but a saucepan and a piece of foil or baking paper.

Kindly featured on The Hip Horticulturalist blog as part of their PUMPKIN RECIPES FOR A TASTY HALLOWEEN feature. Check it out!

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croquettes: baked not fried, with cheese inside

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The humble potato croquette is a fine thing. For me, the kind found in Spain (filled with cheese and ham or shredded chicken and béchamel) is hard to beat, but Japan too is home to many croquette variations. There, the fried treat is normally served with lashings of ‘tonkatsu sauce’ (a thicker, sweeter Worcestershire) – the perfect foil to its relatively plain potato-and-meat interior.

Unfortunately, I lack the equipment and inclination to make deep fried foods at home. When I feel that spare spuds are due a crispy, golden fate, I chop them small and roast them in the oven with garlic, oil, salt and herbs. But sometimes, what I really want is a croquette. My oven-cooked version is inevitably heavier than the Japanese kind, with a thinner, less crackly crust – but I’ve cranked up the flavour to compensate.

Recipe below!

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