Northeastern Chinese-style Braised Squash

This comforting, hearty recipe is my adaptation of Old Northeastern Cuisine's great recipe for northeastern Chinese braised squash with pork (肉片炖板栗瓜 / ròupiàr dùn bǎnlì guā). The original recipe is worth a try, but I've made some adaptations to make the dish match one of my favorite lunches from my days teaching at public schools in Manchuria. That version also had pork (pork knuckle) and often had chunks of corn on the cob too, but I've gone for a somewhat simplified dish easy to make on any weeknight. If you're wanting that extra bit of protein, then replace the vegetable oil in my recipe below with some ground pork, sautéing it until it's thoroughly cooked through before proceeding with the recipe. Whatever you do though, I hope this comfort food favorite of mine hits the spot for you too!

Northeastern Chinese-style Braised Squash

(3 servings*)

Ingredients

2 teaspoons of soy sauce

2 teaspoons of dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of bouillon powder

Five spice powder (to taste)

1 acorn squash (peeled / seeded)

1 medium-large potato (peeled)

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

2 green onions (chopped / whites and greens divided)

1 tablespoon of ginger paste

1/8 cup of cooking wine

1 1/2 cups of hot water

*This usually makes about three servings for my family when served with rice. Mileage obviously varies depending on how hungry you are, whether you're serving it with rice as well, et cetera.

Directions

1) Combine the soy sauces, sugar, bouillon powder, and five spice powder in a small bowl and set aside.

2) Roughly cut the squash and potato into 5-centimeter/2-inch pieces. I try to have a four or five smaller pieces of squash and potato as well to mash up and thicken the dish when it's done cooking.

3) Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over medium-high heat and sauté the whites from the green onions and ginger for a minute or two until fragrant.

4) Stir the cooking wine into the wok immediately followed by the squash and potato and sauté for another couple of minutes.

5) Add the sauce made in step 1 to the wok and continue sautéing until fragrant.

6) Stir the water into the wok, cover, set the heat to medium-low, and braise the squash and potato for 15 or 20 minutes until tender.

7) Crush the smaller pieces of squash and potato and stir to thicken the dish somewhat.

8) Serve the braised squash with rice and a sprinkling of the remaining green onion, and enjoy!