Hmong Kabocha Squash Water-Tea (น้ำฟักทอง)

Kabocha squash water-tea is a super simple healthy drink our friend, who is Hmong, Southeast Asian hill tribe, taught us.  It is one of those recipes you grow up with and have it like Westerners have sweet tea.  He said it's like a tea, and you can have it all year because it is a winter squash variety.  Winter squashes are grown in the summer, but due to their hard exterior, they keep through the winter, which makes it a year-round squash.

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Hmong Kabocha Squash Water-Tea

About Kabocha Squash

Kabocha squash, like mentioned earlier is a winter squash traditionally in Southeast Asia, but all over the world now.  It is also called Japanese squash or buttercup squash and often called a pumpkin.  It is used for a variety of recipes, including, soups, teas, curries, even deserts like a pumpkin custard.

Kabocha Squash

The skin is hard and our friend said he could have kept the squash out, in his fruit bowl and it would last for months.  The skin is edible but some people don't like it so you can always trim it off.

Preparing the Squash

This squash can be a bit dangerous to cut as the outer skin is so hard and you will want to use a very sharp knife.  You can cut it in half first and then remove the skin if you don't want the skin anyway.  The skin is full of vitamins and nutrients so there is a nutritional argument to be made for leaving it on.

Scoop out the seeds of the kabocha squash

Make sure to scoop out the seeds and maybe plant them if you want.   Next, cut it into square-ish chunks, approximately an inch or two in size.   If you want to take the skin off, you may want to do that first.

Cut the skin off the squash if you don't like the skin

It only takes about a half of the squash to make a gallon of tea.  Save the rest back, wrapped in something.  You need to refrigerate also because once the skin is removed it will go bad faster.

Cut Kabocha Squash

Cooking the Kabocha Squash

After bringing a large pot of water to a boil, cook the squash for about 15 minutes but not until it is squishy so you might want to watch it.  Add the sweetener if you like and BOOM goes the dynamite!  Prepare to have your socks knocked off.  You have a nutrient-dense hot or cold drink for less than $5.  It is honestly way more delicious than I expected thanks to our friends' expertise and experience.

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