Sure, it was 96 degrees today in Oakland, but even that weather couldn’t hamper my craving for kabocha squash curry!
On Monday I went to lunch with a friend at Koh Samui and The Monkey in San Francisco, and we had such a dish, only mine had shrimp in it, too. That night I went grocery shopping and picked up a kabocha, in hopes that I would get motivated before the squash went soft. I did! Today’s the day. The rice is cooking as I type, and I am going to have a most delicious bowl of curry and rice in 30 minutes or so.
As with many dishes I make, I look up a few similar recipes and draw the common thread- this is usually the steps that *must* be taken. From there I usually riff into my own thing. This curry is no different.
I used tofu instead of shrimp, because it’s what I had, and oops, fish sauce- not entirely vegan. But delicious!
I sauteed half a red onion and added the curry paste. About two heaping tablespoons of Thai Kitchen red curry paste. I’d have used more, but that’s all that was in the jar.
I added the tofu, cubed and let it get nice and…. less raw?, then opened a can of coconut milk, took a big sip and added the rest to the pot. Into the can I scooped about a tablespoon of Better Than Vegetables boullion and filled the can with water, stirred well, and poured the slurry into the soup. About 2 cans of water and some hemp milk too, I had the right amount of liquid.
Toss in the cubed kabocha and some sliced red bell peppers, a handful of brown sugar, some soy sauce (careful, I added a little too much) and a scoop of garlic-chili sauce. Simmer for an hour or until everything looks done. The squash cooks faster than, say butternut squash or acorn seem to, but maybe it’s just because I wasn’t so hungry that I was impatient.
So the rice is almost done, and I’ve got some fresh cilantro to chop, for the top of the soup. Maybe I’ll shoot a photo of the goodness and post it here, if I don’t get distracted by what promises to be a lovely dusk hour.
Okay, here it is:
