Korean Kabocha Porridge

Korean Kabocha Porridge (makes about 4-6 servings):

For the porridge:

1 kabocha squash, about 3 lbs

3 cups water

1/4 cup sweet rice flour

2-3 big pinches of salt

1-2 TBSP honey

For the rice balls:

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

Big pinch of salt

3-4 TBSP hot water

Pine nuts

For the topping:

Ground flaxseed

More pine nuts

Step 1. Preheat oven to 375°F (I like to use my countertop toaster oven). Rub baking soda all over squash, removing grime and dirt. Rinse until it feels squeaky clean. Cut squash in half and place cut side down on foil or parchment paper and bake for 1 hour or until a knife goes through easily. Once cool enough to handle, remove seeds and scoop out flesh and place directly in a blender.

Step 2. Blend squash with 3 cups of water, working in batches, depending on the size of your blender. Empty all purée into a thick-bottomed pot with a lid. I like my Le Creuset dutch oven for this.

Step 3. In a small bowl, sift the sweet rice flour to remove clumps. Add a few splashes of water and mix until it looks like glue. Add to the pot with the purée, along with the salt and honey. Heat on low, mixing regularly to ensure the porridge doesn’t burn. Be careful — it may splatter! Keep the lid on the pot when you’re not stirring.

Step 4. Boil some water over medium heat in a small saucepan. In a bowl, mix sweet rice flour, salt, and hot water until it forms a dough. Roll it out to a 1” thick cylinder and cut into small, uniform pieces. Working quickly (so that the dough doesn’t dry out), put two pine nuts inside each piece of dough and seal. Drop dough into saucepan and boil for 2 minutes. Strain and immediately dump balls into an ice bath until cooled. Strain and set aside.

Step 5. Taste the porridge and adjust with more salt or honey as needed. Both salt and honey beautifully bring out the natural sweetness of the squash. Ladle some porridge for serving, top with rice balls, ground flaxseed, and more pine nuts. Enjoy hot!