Crispy, slightly spiced kefir and togarashi battered acorn squash.

If you find yourself looking at all the beautiful squash available on grocery shelves and also find yourself pressed for ways to use them before they bad in your fridge, I have you covered.

These are a great in a sandwich, over a salad, a side for fish or chicken, or an appetizer at your next get together.

Okay, but what is it? Really simply fried acorn squash, and you only need 4 ingredients, 5 if you consider salt and water.

Why use kefir?

Kefir helps make the batter airy, crisp and flavorful. Kefir is a tangy cultured diary drink, we use Lifeway Kefir and we partnered up to bring you this recipe.

Aside from calcium, protein and 12 live and active cultures that feed your gut with all the good stuff, cultures diary give life to near any recipe.

What is togarashi?

Togarashi is a japanese pepper seasoning mix, togarashi meaning chilli in Japanese. If you’ve been to a ramen restaurant, there is always a slim little cylinder of reddish spice speckled with sesame seeds on your table, most likely that is togarashi. There are spice makers in Japan that sell century old recipe blends of togarashi, and supermarkets have several to chose from as well. Taste test around and find what you like or ask your local ramen place which seasoning they use.

There are a few types of togarashi blends, but the base is always a dried Japanese red chilli.

Ichimi Togarashi is just chilli pepper. It could be a blend of dried chilli peppers or a smoked blend, but always a singular mix of chilli only. There is a kick of soft heat and a acidic finish, which goes so well with a bowl of buttery broth and bouncy ramen.

Shichimi Togarashi translates to “seven taste chilli powder” and it is a mix of dried chilli with the addition of (black and white) sesame seeds, sansho (peppercorns with a citrus flavor), nori (seaweed), shiso (japanese herb in the mint family with a floral, citrusy and pleasantly bitter flavor), dried orange peel (yuzu or other citrus), hemp and poppy.

The flavor is heat forward with a tangy floral and puckered citrus flavor. This is what you need for this recipe.

Squash is an often forgotten but universally enjoyed vegetable, kabocha being a popular ingredient in Japanese cuisine.

I opted for a squash with a less sturdy skin for this recipe, like acorn.

Togarashi Kefir Battered Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

1 cup Organic Grass Fed Full Fat Lifeway Kefir (plain)

1 cup AP flour +4 tbsp for pre batter coating

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tbsp Shichimi Togarashi

1/4 cup water (to be used as needed to thin batter)

pinch kosher salt + more to season after frying

1 medium acorn squash, cut in half and seeded. Sliced into half moons a quarter inch thick. a quarter inch is roughly the size of finger nail. The space from the tip of your thumb to the knuckle is about an inch. A useful reference to have!

Method:

1. In a separate bowl or shallow dish that will fit pieces of cut acorn
2. Wash and seed 1 acorn squash. Cut it in half from point to stem, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down.
3. Slice into 1/4 inch half moons
4. Place into a microwave safe dish, salt and toss. Microwave for 5.5 minutes on high.
5. Remove and pat dry
6. Dust squash lightly with plain flour on both sides. set aside.
7. Mix batter right before frying.
8. Combine AP flour, salt, togarashi and kefir plus a few tablespoon of water and begin to stir. If the batter looks like it is clumping add in more water. It should be the consistency of pancake batter.
9. Deep fry in oil until golden brown on both sides.
10. Remove onto paper towel or brown bag to drain off excess oil.
11. Sprinkle salt while squash is hot.
12. Serve warm or room temp. Can be recrisped in airfryer or oven the next day.