Ginataang kalabasa

The squash itself thickens the sauce, so the coconut milk goes in early and long.

Shellfish. Not vegetarian — contains fish sauce, shellfish.

Ingredients

• 800 g squash, in 3 cm chunks
• 200 g string beans, in short lengths
• 300 g prawns, peeled
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 200 ml water
• 1 onion and 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 thumb ginger, in matchsticks
• 20 ml fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons oil

Method

1. SQUASH BREAKS DOWN AND THICKENS THE SAUCE ITSELF, so the coconut milk can go in early and simmer -- which it could not do in the jackfruit version on this site, where there is nothing to thicken it and a long boil just splits it.
2. Soften the onion, garlic and ginger in the oil.
3. Add the squash, the coconut milk, the water and the fish sauce. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes.
4. CRUSH ABOUT A THIRD OF THE SQUASH against the side of the pan with a spoon. That is the thickening; without it you have chunks sitting in thin milk.
5. Add the beans and cook 5 minutes.
6. Prawns in for the last 3 minutes only -- they are done the moment they curl and turn opaque.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes