It's like living in a fairy tale world!
Recipe #53: Japanese pumpkin (kabocha)

When I first heard the story of Cinderella, I was fascinated with the magical pumpkin. It was cute and vivid, and I loved pumpkins at the time. Every year, as Halloween approached, we would buy all sorts of pumpkins. They made great decorations, and we would sometimes carve them. We even make some of them into desserts!

But when we planted Japanese pumpkin for the first time, we realized how good they were! They are extremely tender, and anyone who has tried them (including Americans who tried it for the first time) said they had never eat something so tender. They said it was like avacado. After they were more ripe, people said the pumpkins tasted like sweet potatos. Some even asked us if sugar was added. Since then, we no longer have "regular" pumpkins on our dining tables during Halloween.

Ingredients

1. half of a Japanese pumpkin, chunked and seeded
2. 2 sprigs of thyme
3. Salt to taste
4. 1/4 c. water
5. 2 pcs. ginger
6. 1 tsp. oil

Directions

1. Put oil in skillet; when oil is warm, add the ginger.
2. Add pumpkin and thyme; sprinkle salt and saute for about a minute.
3. Add water and put on lid, and turn heat to a lower medium-high.
4. After about five to seven minutes, or when water has evaporated, it is ready.

Tips

1. Thyme best matches the taste of pumpkin, better than the other herbs.
2. If you don't have herbs, you don't have to use them.
3. Soy sauce lovers can add some soy sauce and reduce the salt. In this case, don't add the thyem.
4. If you're having trouble chopping the pumpkin, cut it into wedges.