Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin in Mikasa City!

by Travel Report of Sorachi sub-prefectural area
Autumn is the season of harvest.
Various kinds of culinary delicacies colours our dinner tables.
Rice farmers are enjoying its bumper crop and the quality and quantity of pumpkins are also so good this year that the moms of the farms says "each kind of the pumpkins can be the protagonist with excellent taste on the table.
That makes it difficult for me to decide which kind of pumpkin I should buy.


Besides, do you know the kind of pumpkin called "butternuts" ? It contains plenty of water inside. I felt the pumpkin boiled or steamed was so creamy or sticky in my mouth that I recognized the clear difference from normal pumpkins that I had ever.
Sauteed pumpkin and paste of the pumpkin were so nice to eat and particularly the pumpkin pie was superb !
I could not find the pumpkin of this kind for a long time but I found the ones in the farmer's market at the roadside station named "Sun Farm Mikasa" along Route 12 in Mikasa City.  
These are "noodle pumpkins" sold in the same market of Mikasa City.
The pulp of the pumpkin becomes like noodle after boiled.
The farmers in the city carried in the pumpkins to the market but as each farmer priced based on the total cost to grow them, the prices were different from each other albeit the sizes lookedd same such as 150 yen, 200 yen, 250 yen or 300 yen. After considering which pumpkin to buy for a while, as a result, I bought the cheapest one.

 After coming home, I made potage with the butternut pumpkin this time.
I sauteed the minced onion with butter, I threw in the peeled and cut butternut pumpkin in the pot. And I poured comparatively dense consomme in the pot and boiled to the extent the pieces of pumpkin got soft. Then I added milk and warmed up again. After straining the pieces of pumpkin and onion, I adjusted the taste with salt and pepper.
I poured the potage into the warmed-up dish and put a little bit fresh cream and crouton on the surface. The pulp of the butternut pumpkin has the vivid colour of orange and is the best material to make potage. What a nice taste it is!

It is easier to make use of mixer to extract the cream of the pumpkin but I left the feeling of eating pumpkin this time. It sounds great to add the paste of potato or soybean to the potage.
  Next time I can spare a longer time for cooking, I would like to make pumpkin gnocchi etc. I am convinced that I will be able to make it getting the excellent taste and vivid colour.
Other kinds of pumpkins were sold in the market at the competitive prices.

I chose the pumpkin called "Roron" that is said the best material for making sweets. This time, I simply steamed up it with salt. The taste was so nice but the shape of Roron was curious!
 have a great weekend!