Kabocha Squash Gratin (Wheat-Free)
かぼちゃのグラタン（小麦なし）
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
This gratin skips the usual butter-and-flour white sauce entirely: soft mashed kabocha squash is loosened with soy milk, topped with a gentle ketchup-based pork sauce, and baked until bubbling. Because the sauce is thickened with rice flour instead of wheat flour and there is no milk or cheese, it is made without egg, dairy or wheat. The natural sweetness of the kabocha is what wins children over - even picky eaters tend to clean their plates.
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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 gjoshinko (Japanese non-glutinous rice flour)Fine flour milled from regular short-grain rice, used for chewy Japanese sweets like dango. Substitute: Plain rice flour (not glutinous/sweet rice flour).
- 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.
- joshinko (Japanese non-glutinous rice flour) (上新粉)
- Fine flour milled from regular short-grain rice, used for chewy Japanese sweets like dango. Substitute: Plain rice flour (not glutinous/sweet rice flour).
Directions
- 1
Cut the kabocha into rough chunks, skin and all. Boil until tender and mash coarsely. While it is still warm, stir 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 joshinko. Once no dry flour remains, add the water, ketchup, salt and pepper and simmer to make a meat sauce.
- 4
Spread the kabocha mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, top with the meat sauce, 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.
