Sweet and golden kabocha squash shines brightly in this Kabocha Salad (Japanese pumpkin) recipe with crispy bacon and crunchy cucumber. This beautiful salad could become a new classic on your holiday table.
One of my favorite fall ingredients is kabocha (sometimes called kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin). I have many kabocha recipes that I want to share with you, but let’s start with this delicious and easy Kabocha Salad.
Kabocha Salad – The Japanese’s Fall Time Favorite
Have you tried kabocha before? Kabocha has a dull-finished, deep green skin with intense yellow-orange flesh. It has a sweet taste, even sweeter than butternut squash, while the texture and flavor are a cross between a pumpkin and a sweet potato.
Japanese love eating kabocha for its many health benefits. It’s high in beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamins B1 and B2, and more. Beta-carotene can be converted to vitamin A in the body and vitamin A is important for healthy white blood cells, good immunity, and vibrant eyes, skin, and hair. It’s really good stuff! Whenever kabocha is in season, I will rush to the farmers market to pick up one or two to make some of my favorite fall recipes.
A typical kabocha salad includes kabocha, sliced cucumbers, and raisins and that’s how my mom used to make it. Sometimes kabocha salad also includes diced onion. Since my husband is not a huge fan of raisins, I replaced raisins with bacon instead. I love the salty flavor of the bacon in the naturally sweet kabocha. The crispy bits of bacon definitely add another dimension to the typical kabocha salad. You can definitely leave it out for the vegetarian version.
To prepare this salad, the squash is boiled until soft; it is then mashed (some chunks are good) before combined with cucumber slices, bacon (if added), and seasoned with Japanese mayo, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Very simple, yet utterly flavorful.
The slightly creamy and sweet flavor of this Kabocha Salad makes it equally fitting to serve as a side dish for your holiday dinner.
Just a word of caution: Kabocha has really hard skin. It requires a razor-sharp knife and a strong force to cut it open. So just be extra careful when you cut the squash.
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Kabocha Salad
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb kabocha squash
- 2 slices bacon
- 1 Japanese or Persian cucumber (or ½ English cucumber)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds from 1 lb kabocha squash and discard them. Cut the kabocha into slices 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide.
- Peel the kabocha skin. Then, cut the kabocha into 1-inch (2.5-cm) cubes.
- Put the kabocha in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil the kabocha until soft.
- Drain the water and mash half of the kabocha. It’s better to leave some big chunks unmashed for texture.
- In a frying pan, cook 2 slices bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Drain the excess oil on a paper towel and then cut the bacon into small pieces.
- Peel 1 Japanese or Persian cucumber lengthwise, alternating with unpeeled skin to make a striped pattern. Then, thinly slice the cucumber.
- Put the cucumber slices in a bowl and sprinkle with ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Rub the salt into the cucumber and let it stand for 5 minutes. Then, squeeze out the liquid.
- Combine the kabocha, bacon, and cucumber together in a bowl. Add 3 Tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise and freshly ground black pepper. Mix it all together. Serve it cool or at room temperature.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 1–2 days or in the freezer for 2–3 weeks.
I’ve been trying this recipe many time with butternut squash by steaming, but mine always seems to be wet, can see some liquid after mixing and putting in bottle instead of drier looking like yours. How to solve this pls? Does the squash have to be completely cool down? Thanks
Hello, Diana. Thank you for attempting Nami’s recipe.
Kabocha does not need to be cooled for this recipe, but because you are using butternut squash, try to let it cool before smashing it. Make sure not to over-smash it because it only needs to break apart.
For this dish, you may also roast your butternut squash.
We hope this helps!
Butternut squash is significantly wetter than and not as starchy as Kabocha. It’d be somewhat like using bananas vs. plantains; sweet potatoes/yams vs. russet potatoes; beefsteak vs. plum tomatoes;….
Kabocha has a similar dryness to potatoes used for potato salad, but is not moist enough to sub for a pumpkin pie, whereas the moisture in a butternut might work for such a pie :).
Steaming adds significantly more moisture, so you might consider a dry roast if using butternut.
Good luck!
I see comments from 9 years ago and wish I found this then. I used the closest local squash I could find and omitted the bacon. Why is it so good? I like it still slightly warm from the cooked squash. For the local squash, I drained it after cooking 3 mins (2 cm) pieces and kept it covered while I chopped the cucumber. Next time I will add shoyu sesame seeds for salt and texture.
Hi RiS! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!