Next up in our fall recipe series comes complements of Mama LCA with her Mashed Kabocha Salad!
Now, I’ll be honest, I don’t cook very often with kabocha so the number of dishes I’m familiar with are somewhat limited. And when I’m in these kinds of situations, I consult with my mom and she always pulls through with some great ideas!
This time, she recommend making something like a mashed potato salad but instead substitute the potatoes with a low-carb/keto friendly kabocha. She mentioned our Japanese relatives raving about the health benefits of kabocha, so one day I decided to make a my own low carb/keto version of mash potatoes using kabocha and this recipe was born!
It’s really easy to make and only requires a couple of ingredients. Once the kabocha is boiled down, it has a ‘starchy’ texture similar to potatoes, making it an ideal substitution at a fraction of the carbs!
It also has a nice sweet profile that really complements many dishes making it a perfect side dish especially with your different proteins.
Now for those that aren’t familiar with kabocha, it’s a Japanese pumpkin but much smaller compared to its Western counterpart and green in color. The darker green the kabocha, the sweeter it will be!
Even though kabocha is naturally sweet, it’s pretty low-carb/keto friendly at ~8g net carbs per cup, which is around 2 servings worth. It’s also packed with other healthy goodies like beta carotene (Vitamin A), Vitamin C and other essential minerals that help combat free radical cells among other health benefits.
On a closing note, cutting through a kabocha is very hard! So a tip we picked up along the way is to throw the entire thing in the microwave for about 1 – 1.5 minutes and it becomes much more manageable to cut through!
For this recipe, the only special ingredients you would need are Kewpie Mayo and optional Sesame Seeds, which you can pick up on Amazon or a local Asian supermarket. You can usually pick up some kabocha at an Asian supermarket or even regular supermarkets depending on your region.
Now, let’s get cooking!
Prepping Time 5M
Cooking Time 15M
Drying Time 5M
Total Time 25M
Net Carb/Serv ~4g
Servings 2
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Cubed Kabocha (~1/4 of a kabocha)
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 3 tbsp Kewpie Mayo
- 1/8 tsp Sesame Seeds (optional garnish)
Directions
1) Gather all the ingredients.
2) Place kabocha into the microwave for about 1 – 1.5 minutes until softened. Once softened, de-seed, cut 1/4 of kabocha as shown below and use a vegetable peeler to peel off the skin. Cut kabocha into 1″ x 1″ cubes and set aside.
3) In a stove top pot, add kabocha cubes and enough water to fully submerge the kabocha. Place on high heat, cover, and bring water to a boil.
4) Once boiling, lower heat to medium-low, cover stove top pot 7/8 of the way to expose a little room for evaporation and cook for 15-20 minutes until kabocha is easily forked.
5) Remove boiled kabocha and place onto a over rack to eliminate any water absorbed into the kabocha (around 5 minutes). This step is extremely important, otherwise you won’t achieve the correct texture.
6) Next, add kabocha into a mixing bowl, along with Kewpie Mayo and salt. Use the bottom of a fork to mash the kabocha until a smooth texture is formed. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with optional Sesame Seeds.
Hope you enjoy your low-carb/keto Mashed Kabocha Salad !
If you’re looking for other recipe ideas, be sure to check out our growing Recipe Index full of Asian inspired recipes!
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Mashed Kabocha Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Cubed Kabocha ~1/4 of a kabocha
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 3 tbsp Kewpie Mayo
- 1/8 tsp Sesame Seeds optional garnish
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Place whole kabocha into the microwave for about 20-25 seconds. Once softened, cut 1/4 of kabocha as shown below and use a vegetable peeler to peel off the skin. Cut kabocha into 1" x 1" cubes and set aside.
- In a stove top pot, add kabocha cubes and enough water to fully submerge the kabocha. Place on high heat, cover, and bring water to a boil.
- Once water is boiling, reduce heat to low, cover stove top pot 7/8 of the way to expose a little room for evaporation and cook for 15-20 minutes until kabocha is easily forked.
- Remove boiled kabocha and place onto a oven rack to eliminate any water absorbed into the kabocha (around 5 minutes). This step is extremely important, otherwise you won't achieve the correct texture.
- Next, add kabocha into a mixing bowl, along with Kewpie Mayo and salt. Use the bottom of a fork to mash the kabocha until a smooth texture is formed. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with optional sesame seeds.
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