Korean squash season thrives from June to August. Whether you have your own garden or opt for the market, this is a great time to utilize this ingredient. In Korean dishes, squash can be the center or side ingredient. It has a mild sweet flavor and adds an imperative contrasting green color.
My garden is really producing round squash right now, and so I feel the hardest part about this abundance is thinking of how to use it up; a list of inspo helps.
So here is a compiled list of Korean recipes that you can refer to when you need some inspiration.
These recipes work for various types of squash, including Korean squash (애호박), Zucchini, and Round Squash 풋호박/조선호박/둥근호박.
Rice Dishes
Rice Bowls/Mixed Rice
- Squash Rice Bowl (애호박덮밥): This dish is stir-fried squash that is served in a bowl with rice. It can be topped with an egg. This dish is versatile; it can be made spicy or savory. You can also customize it by adding other vegetables, such as mushrooms, onions, tuna, shrimp, chicken, or beef. You can slice the squash into various shapes, including thin to medium-thick strips, large diced pieces, full-circle slices, or half-circle slices.
- Squash Cooked Rice Bowl (애호박 솥밥): This dish can be made two ways. The rice can be pre-cooked and added to the cooked squash, or the rice can be cooked together with the squash. This dish is usually mixed before it is served. You can add beef or add a seasoning sauce after.
- Vegetable Bibimbap (야채 비빔밥): Bibimbap consists of vegetables and proteins placed on top of rice and served with a spicy red pepper paste sauce. You can use stir-fried squash for this.
- Young Radish Bibimbap (열무비빔밥): You can add squash and young radish kimchi together as a bibimbap.
- Aster Scaber Bibimbap (취나물비빔밥): You can add squash and freshly blanched aster scaber together as a bibimbap.
Stir-fried/rolled Rice
- Squash Kimbap (애호박 김밥): Add cooked thinly sliced squash to kimbap rolls.
- Squash Rice Ball (애호박 주먹밥): Small dice squash and cook it with other ingredients before mixing it with cooked rice and forming large or small rice balls.
- Omelette Rice (오므라이스): Use diced stir-fried squash as one of the ingredients in the rice mixture for omelette rice.
- Squash Fried Rice (애호박볶음밥): Small dice squash and stir fry it with other ingredients for fried rice.
Main Dishes
Noodles
- Knife Cut Noodles with Clams (바지락 칼국수): Squash is sliced into strips or half-circles and added to this dish.
- Knife Cuts Noodles with Chicken (닭칼국수): Squash is sliced into strips or half-circles and added to this dish.
- Janchi-guksu (잔치국수): Squash is thinly sliced and stir-fried before being placed as a garnish on this noodle soup dish.
- Hand-pulled Noodles (수제비): Hand-pulled noodle soup contains sliced squash.
- Squash Mixed Noodles (애호박 비빔국수): Soy sauce based noodles with stir-fried squash.
- Ramen (라면): Add sliced squash to your ramen as it boils.
Porridge
- Porridge with Clam and Squash (애호박 게살죽): Porridge made with squash and clams. You can dice the squash small or large. You can also slice it into thin slices.
- Porridge with Beef and Squash (애호박죽): Porridge made with squash and small diced or ground beef. You can dice the squash small or large. You can also slice it into thin slices.
- Porridge with Vegetables (채소죽): This porridge contains various small diced vegetables.
Stir-fried/Grilled
- Osam-bulgogi (오삼불고기): This spicy sauce pork belly and squid dish has sliced vegetables like squash, carrots, and onions added to it.
- Korean BBQ: Squash can be sliced and grilled along with various meats at Korean BBQ.
Soups with Squash
- Squash Soup (애호박 찌개): A spicy red pepper paste based soup. It can have pork, shrimp, dried shrimp, squid, Pollock roe (명란), tofu, or dried anchovies as the protein.
- Squash Soup with Salted Shrimp (애호박 새우젓찌개): This soup can be spicy or clean-flavored.
- Potato Dough Ball Soup (감자 옹심이): Sliced strips of squash are added to this soup with other vegetables.
- Clam Soybean Paste Soup (바지락 된장찌개): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this soup.
- Clear Squash Soup with Salted Shrimp (애호박새우젓국): This soup uses a clear, clean-flavored broth.
- Pork Red Pepper Paste Soup (돼지감자고추장찌개): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this soup.
- Thin Sliced Brisket Soybean Paste Soup (차돌박이 된장찌개): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this soup.
- Pork Kimchi Soup (돼지김치찌개): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this soup.
- Tuna Kimchi Soup (참치김치찌개): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this soup.
- Squash Soybean Soup (애호박된장찌개): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this soup.
- Spicy Korean rockfish Soup (우럭매운탕): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this spicy fish soup.
- Pacific Cod Soup (맑은대구탕): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this clear broth soup.
- Clear Clam Soup (바지락 조개탕): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this minimal-ingredient clear broth soup.
- Soft Tofu Soup (순두부찌개): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this spicy soup that contains tofu as the main ingredient.
- Rice Cake Soup (떡국): Sliced or medium-diced squash can be added to this soup, but it is not often added.
- Thick Soybean Paste Mixture (강된장): This is a thick soybean paste soup that is eaten with fresh lettuce and rice.
- Crab Soup (꽃게탕): Sliced or medium-diced squash is added to this spicy crab soup.
- Dumpling Hot Pot (만두전골): Sliced or medium-diced squash can be added and simmered with other ingredients.
- Mushroom Hot Pot (버섯전골): Sliced or medium-diced squash can be added and simmered with other ingredients.
Side Dishes
Fresh
- Stir-fried Squash with Salted Shrimp (애호박 새우젓 볶음): Stir-fry sliced squash and season with salted shrimp.
- Stir-fried Squash and Shrimp (애호박새우볶음): Stir-fry squash and whole shrimp. Perilla seed oil goes well with this.
- Squash Pancake (애호박전): Dredge slices of squash with flour and egg and cook in a pan. You can also slice it very thinly into thin strips and make squash pancakes that way.
- Dumpling (애호박 만두): Add squash to your dumpling filling.
- Glass Noodle Dish (잡채): Cook strips of squash and add to seasoned glass noodles.
- Squash Side Dish (호박나물): Lightly cook squash in a pan with some water and seasoning.
- Fish cake and Squash Stir-fried (애호박 어묵볶음): Stir-fry strips of squash and strips of flat fish cakes together in a pan and season. It can be soy-based or spicy.
- Rolled Egg with Squash (애호박 계란말이): Add small diced or thin circle slices of squash to the rolled egg.
- Braised Squash (애호박조림): Braise the squash with seasoning.
- Spicy Stir-fried Squash (매콤 애호박볶음): Stir-fried squash with a spicy seasoning.
Long-term
- Stir-fried Dried Squash (호박고지나물볶음): Thinly sliced dried squash is rehydrated, seasoned, and stir-fried.
- Dried Squash (호박고지나물): Thinly slice squash and dry it in the sun.
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