Ever heard of kobocha squash? You have now… {why you should eat it and how}

Kobocha? What? What is that? ka·bo·cha | \ kə-ˈbō-chə/

Well, kobocha is a Japanese winter squash that is amazing! Not only if the flavor soooo good, but the health benefits will amaze you!!

Looks: They are kinda funny shaped with flat bottoms and flat tops, they are green on the outside and bright orange on the inside. They are very hard to cut into the skin since it’s so tough but people also eat the skin. The seeds are also edible which you can toast and eat them like pumpkin seeds!!

Edibility– everything on the squash is edible. The skin, flesh, seeds, everything!

Tastes: taste sweeter then normal squashes, a little pumpkin-y. Smooth, amazing flavors. You just have to try some!!

Ok so its a squash, but why should I eat it?

Kobocha is a powerhouse! Just look at these amazing nutritional facts: for one cup…

• 40 calories
• 10 grams carbohydrates
• 1 gram protein
• 0.2 grams fat
• 1.7 grams dietary fiber
• 14.3 ml vitamin C (16 percent DV)
• 0.2 ml vitamin B6 (11 percent DV)
• 0.08 ml copper (9 percent DV)
• vitamin A, I’ve seen %300, 59%, 10%, so really it just depends on the squash I guess!
• 406 ml potassium (9 percent DV)
• 0.19 ml manganese (8 percent DV)
• 27.8 mg folate (7 percent DV)
• 0.07 mg riboflavin (6 percent DV)
• thiamine, magnesium, iron, niacin and pantothenic acid.

Health benefits:

As an excellent source of beta-carotene, makes them great for immunity, healthy skin, hair, and eyes, lowers cancer risks, and a single serving of kabocha squash provides 70% RDI!! Kobocha improves digestion, stabilizes blood sugar levels, is rich in antioxidants, improve bladder infection, help weight loss, and more.

A bit of history…

No one knows the real history on these things, but the Portuguese sailors introduced kabocha to Japan in 1541, bringing it with them from Cambodia. Portuguese called the squash Camboja abóbora then Japanese then shortens it to simply kabocha.