Recipe: Yi-Style Squash with Black Cardamom
July 19th, 2013
This recipe comes from the very center of Yunnan and the tiny roadside Yi Kang Restaurant (益康饭店, “Yi Kang Fan Dian”), in the heart of Yi country. The food at Yi Kang Restaurant is as simple as can be but redolent of the flavors and spice typical of the Yi food in the area, particularly ground black cardamom. The spice, which can be bought ground or made by grinding the inner seeds (but not the pod) of a whole black cardamom, loses its piney fragrance within a few days of being ground, but cooking it in hot oil here makes it fragrant again. It’s a perfect patner to mild summer squash. In fact, I think it’s the best way I’ve ever seen of preparing this abundant summer vegetable.
In Yunnan, cooks use round, squat squash, which is much harder than the long, thin squash we usually find here. Fortunately, farmers markets and good stores around the country now offer many varieties of squat, star-shaped squash that work perfectly in this dish.
1 lb squat, hard, star-shaped summer squash -or- a mix of summer squash and sweet orange pumpkin, like sugar pumpkins, miniature pumpkins, or kabocha
1 large slightly waxy potato
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 dried chile, broken in half
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black cardamom
Cut the squash into angular pieces about 2″ long, cutting around the edges and discarding the softer, seed-filled center, for about 3 cups total. (Summer squash can be used with the skins on; pumpkin should be peeled.) Peel the potato and cut to match the squash. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat and add the dried chile; cook until the chile has blackened. Add the squash and potatoes and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the salt and cardamom and mix until they are thoroughly distributed. Pour 1 cup of water into the wok and cover with a wok lid. Let the squash stew with the lid on for 8 minutes, stirring half-way through. Remove the lid and check to make sure the potatoes and pumpkin are tender. Stir to ensure the seasoning is well distributed and cook 1-2 more mins, with the lid off, to boil away most of the remaining water. Serve immediately.
Photos: Josh Wand, Georgia Freedman
