Greetings!

Here's a recipe that I started to like when I was still young, it is called Ginataang Kalabasa. Here in our country, the local name of Squash is Kalabasa. More than thirty years ago I still remember the crops that my father used to plant in our backyard and squash is one of them. We rarely eat this recipe because coconuts are not readily available in our town we have to travel about less than an hour to the nearest market just to buy coconuts.

I can still vividly remember when my father would cook this recipe it almost has no soup which makes the coconut milk very concentrated on the very little soup and on the squash.

It is a good thing that whenever my father and my eldest sister cook I am always watching them all the time and as time passes by I learned how to cook on my own and also almost all of the recipes that my father and my eldest sister have been passed down to me and of course one of them is the Ginataang Kalabasa.

Just like I have mentioned earlier when my father and eldest sister cook this recipe they would put on very little soup making the coconut milk very concentrated on the soup which makes it very delicious.

And today I am going to show you guys how I cook this recipe. You can put as little soup as you like. But I am going to put more soup on this variant since it needs to feed 6 people.

So, without further ado, here's how I cook this very delicious recipe.

• Squash
• Coconut
• String Beans
• Cooking Oil
• Salt
• Garlic
• Onion

Peel and slice the squash into cubes (serving size)

*Slice the string beans into serving size

Split the coconut into half (do not add the coconut water into the soup)

When the coconut is sliced into half grate both (you can definitely use more coconut, the more coconut, the delicious it becomes)

After grating, use a restrainer then squeeze all the coconut milk (I will only squeeze it once or twice and I do not put water into it)

Peel and slice the garlic

Peel and slice the onion

Prepare the dried shrimps

1. Sautee the onion and the garlic with cooking oil

2. After sauteing, add the squash

3. Add the string beans

4. Add some water (you can definitely not add water if you want and use only the coconut as the soup)

5. Add all the coconut juice, add some salt then let it boil

6. When it started to boil, add the dried shrimp

7. When all the ingredients are cooked and if the taste is now okay it is now done (you can definitely boil it for more time under the coconut milk renders some oil)

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I am a Computer Engineer, blogger, farmer, father, and husband. I love countryside living, nature, farming (rice/vegetables), and has two decades of experience as an I.T. professional