Grocery store bins are brimming with a huge assortment of winter squash as the season for this hearty vegetable is in full swing.
Most cooks are familiar with acorn squash and butternut squash, popular varieties that are ideal for making soup. But what about kabocha or kuri or sweet dumpling?
These squash are great for using in soups or simply roasting. Most squash takes well to baking or steaming.
But I find that roasting most kinds intensifies and brings out their sweet flavors.
Each of these varieties has its own distinct flavor. The one thing most squash have in common is that they’re a good or excellent source of fiber and beta-carotene.
Delicata: This squash has edible beige skin with dark green streaks. The flesh is creamy and sweet. Roast, bake or steam it.
Golden Nugget: This is typically small and has a reddish-orange skin. It’s is great roasted and steamed to use in soups. Or cut it in half and stuff it.
Hubbard: This variety tends to be large and heavy. The skin is bluish-gray although I’ve seen smaller ones that are bright orange. They are extremely hard to cut. If you can, have the folks in the store’s produce section cut it for you, or drop it on cement to break it apart. Hubbard squash has a savory-sweet flavor and is best roasted.
Kabocha: It has a green, bluish-gray or a deep orange skin. The flesh is deep yellow, and it’s good baked or steamed.
Sweet Dumpling: It has cream-colored skin with green specks. It is sweet and needs little seasoning. Bake this or roast it cut-side down so the sugars naturally caramelize. It’s terrific in soups.
Turban: Named for its shape, this squash has a mainly red-orange base with green, orange, red and white streaks on the top. It is best used to make pies.
I used Golden Nugget squash for today’s Thai Red Curry Squash Soup recipe. On crisp day, a hearty bowl of squash soup paired with a mixed greens salad and a crusty baguette is just the ticket.
Thai red-curry squash soup
2tablespoons unsalted butter
1medium onion, peeled, thinly sliced
2tablespoons thinly sliced fresh ginger plus 1 cup slivered fresh ginger
1tablespoon Thai red curry paste
11/2-2 pounds kabocha, kuri, golden nugget or buttercup squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch pieces
3cups water
1can (131/2 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
1teaspoon lime zest
1tablespoon sugar
1tablespoon fresh lime juice
Salt to taste
2tablespoons vegetable oil, optional
1cup slivered fresh ginger, optional garnish
2green onions, thinly sliced
In a large, heavy pot, melt the butter. Add the onion and sliced ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the squash and water and bring to a boil. Cover partially and simmer over low heat until soft, 25 minutes. Add the coconut milk and lime zest, cover partially and simmer for 30 minutes longer.
Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender; put it in a clean pot. Stir in the sugar and lime juice and season with salt.
If making the ginger garnish, in a medium skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the slivered ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden brown and crisp, 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the ginger to paper towels to drain.
Reheat the soup; ladle it into bowls. Garnish with the fried ginger and green onions and serve.
This soup can be made up to 3 days in advance.
Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 225 calories (68 percent from fat ), 17 grams fat (14 grams sat. fat ), 19 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 114 mg sodium, 10 mg cholesterol, 5 grams fiber.
Adapted from Food &Wine magazine, November 2010 issue
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