Kabocha squash soup that I threw together yesterday. Amounts are missing or guesstimated so should have some previous cooking experience. Great if you have a leftover ham bone.

Ingredients

Pot of of homemade chicken stock, 8 cups about

Sauteed, onions, celery, leeks, garlic

One smoked pork hock or preferably a ham bone

1/2 of a large roasted kabocha squash - lots of brown sugar flavors

1/2 to 1 Idaho potato peeled

nutmeg, allspice, paprika, salt, black pepper

tblspn fish sauce

Recipe

Dump sauteed vegetables into chicken stock with potato and ham bone/pork hock and boil until meat releases flavor. You could add back the meat from the pork hock to the soup but there wasn't a lot so I just had that as a snack for myself. If I had used a ham bone I might consider adding cubed ham as a garnish when plating. Could add a swirl of cream at the table for taste and presentation but I would do one or the other as a personal preference.

Remove bone and add the squash. Kabocha skin is edible so dump the whole thing in and use a stick blender to blend smoothly. If using a stand blender be careful and preferably wait til cooled.

Add spices to taste. Ham or pork hock is salted so take it easy with the additional salt. Add fish sauce and reheat until fishy taste is gone.

Serve immediately but of course more melded flavor next day.

Beautiful butternut color, brown sugar sweet but savory and the skin adds bits of green flecks which gives it visual appeal.

bon appetit