Kakai squash flesh maybe like winter melon?

[applestar]

I seeded a couple of small Kakai squash and toasted the seeds -- yum!

The flesh of this squash is said to be inedible -- feed to live stock or vermicompost or compost.
There was one blog about juicing it for healthy drink.

I didn't want to juice them, but I couldn't just toss in the compost pile either, so I tried braising/steaming them.

Well, they were right that it is nothing like sweet starchy or moist and smooth, but they weren't overly stringy like an ornamental pumpkin either, which was really what I was expecting by "inedible". In fact if has no springiness in the flesh at all, and the skin turned into hard shell that easily peeled/separated from the cooked large chunks.

What we have smell wonderfully like a pumpkin, but yellow and firm textured and translucent that kind of reminds me of turnips or rutabagas,... Or spaghetti squash that won't flake into strings. It is at once aromatic yet flavorless, and watery.

I HAD to try them as sweet -- butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt drizzled with maple syrup. Smelled great! So disappointing on the tongue even with extra drizzle of honey to make it sweeter. It was obvious they really needed to be a savory. More of a veg. At the same time, I couldn't stop eating them.

2nd try -- sea salt and sour cream. Smelled great! ...but still flops at the finish because of the wet bland mush they turn into while chewing that the initial flavor from the sour cream can't carry.

3rd sample will be covered and baked in tomato sauce with ricotta and cheese like lasagna.

I'm also looking at some winter melon recipes as possibly similar veg. I think it needs to be cooked in flavorful sauce or soup to soak up and take on their flavor. One will be a simple ground chicken recipe for the kids, and I think I'll try a Szechwan or Mongolian type recipe for myself and DH.

I have two larger Kakai and two tiny Kakai left, so I hope to figure this out before cutting those open.

[pepperhead212]

Try it in a Thai curry! I never made a Thai curry I didn't like, and winter melon is something I have put in them.

So were the seeds really hull-less? Seems I remember that being the main thing for growing those squash.

[applestar]

Great idea with using the squash in curry. I never knew how well those flavors paired !

Kakai is really hulless and the seeds are DARK GREEN. They taste great. DH would eat the entire squashes worth at one sitting if I let him. I saved some of the seeds for planting but cannot guarantee they were not crossed because I didn't bag the blossoms. But the ones from under the protective tunnel *should be* pure since they were hand pollinated and these were the only pepos under there.