Kabocha and Oden

When I have my own restaurant, this is how I'll serve kabocha: stewed in ginger and sugar, with a shot of the stewing liquid on the side.

I love that the weather's getting cold and I can find kabocha for 99 cents a pound everywhere
I go. My favorite way to eat kabocha is in ginger soup. It's really easy, and incredibly soothing. I cut a kabocha into big chunks. The skin can stay on, as long as any rough patches and the stem are removed. I'm the only one who likes it, so half a two-pound kabocha is what I cook at a time. I put it in a two quart (very small) pot, cover with water, and add tons of ginger. I would say I added easily two chunks off the root, or fifteen thick slices. Everything simmers together until the kabocha starts to become soft, at which point I add brown sugar to taste (I would say about a loose quarter cup). When the kabocha is fork tender, it's ready. And yes, you can eat the skin too. If you don't add too much sugar, the gingery soup is good as a soothing "tea."

The main course was a 9 quart Le Creuset duth oven teeming with Japanese treats: mochi stuffed tofu skins, kababoka fish cakes, squid/fish/vegetable cakes, cuttlefish cakes, yam flour noodles, carrots, daikon, maitake mushrooms, and potatoes. Oden base is a mix of stock (fish or chicken), sake, soy sauce, and sugar, and everything is served with a dollop of karashi (Japanese yellow mustard).