Kabocha Squash Gratin (Milk-Free)
かぼちゃのグラタン（乳なし）
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
This gratin skips the cheese and white sauce entirely, yet still comes out of the oven creamy and golden. Kabocha squash is boiled skin and all, roughly mashed and loosened with sweetened soy milk, then topped with a gentle ketchup-based pork meat sauce before baking. The natural sweetness of the squash against the savory sauce is a combination children take to right away. The gratin is made without milk.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 93 gkabocha squashSweet, dense Japanese pumpkin with dark green skin and orange flesh. Substitute: Butternut squash or another sweet winter squash.
- 19.5 gonion
- 22.5 gground pork
Seasonings
- 15 gsweetened soy milk (Japanese chosei tonyu)Japanese 'prepared' soy milk that is lightly sweetened and flavored to taste milder than plain soy milk. Substitute: Regular (original, lightly sweetened) soy milk from the supermarket.
- 1.8 gvegetable oil
- 1.8 gflour
- 13.5 gwater
- 13.5 gketchup
- 0.1 gsalt
- to tastepepper
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- kabocha squash (かぼちゃ)
- Sweet, dense Japanese pumpkin with dark green skin and orange flesh. Substitute: Butternut squash or another sweet winter squash.
- sweetened soy milk (Japanese chosei tonyu) (調製豆乳)
- Japanese 'prepared' soy milk that is lightly sweetened and flavored to taste milder than plain soy milk. Substitute: Regular (original, lightly sweetened) soy milk from the supermarket.
Directions
- 1
Cut the kabocha squash, skin on, into rough chunks. Boil until tender, mash coarsely, and mix in the soy milk.
- 2
Finely chop the onion. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion. Add the ground pork and cook, stirring.
- 3
Turn off the heat and stir in the flour. Once no dry flour remains, add the water, ketchup, salt and pepper and simmer to make a meat sauce.
- 4
Spread the kabocha mixture from step 1 over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, top with the meat sauce from step 3, and bake in an oven preheated to 200°C (400°F) for about 10 minutes.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 169.5 kcal | 339 kcal | 169.5 kcal |
| Protein | 6.8 g | 13.5 g | 6.8 g |
| Fat | 6.6 g | 13.2 g | 6.6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 26.7 g | 53.4 g | 26.7 g |
| Fiber | 4.1 g | 8.1 g | 4.1 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.6 g | 1.2 g | 0.6 g |
| Calcium | 31.5 mg | 63 mg | 31.5 mg |
| Iron | 0.8 mg | 1.5 mg | 0.8 mg |
| Potassium | 574.5 mg | 1149 mg | 574.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 169.5 kcal | 6.8 g | 6.6 g | 26.7 g | 4.1 g | 0.6 g | 31.5 mg | 0.8 mg | 574.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 339 kcal | 13.5 g | 13.2 g | 53.4 g | 8.1 g | 1.2 g | 63 mg | 1.5 mg | 1149 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
