Sesame-Dressed Kabocha (かぼちゃのごま和え, Kabocha no Goma-ae)

Kabocha needs very little when it's in shun, at its prime. The flesh is dense, sweet, and orange enough to make a small bowl look like autumn arrived early and sat down politely. This is not a complicated side dish. It is squash, sesame, shoyu, and sugar, with nothing hidden.

The one detail that decides it is when you dress the kabocha. Too hot, and the pieces crumble into paste. Too cold, and the sesame sits on the surface like an apology. Let the squash cool until warm, then fold it gently so the cut faces drink the dressing while the edges still hold.

Goma-ae means sesame-dressed, one of the quiet ae-mono, or dressed dishes, that sit beside rice and soup without making a speech. We grind the sesame because whole seeds mostly pass through the mouth without giving what they have. Crush them and their oil wakes up, the fragrance comes forward, and a spoonful of shoyu and sugar is suddenly enough.

Leave a little green skin on each piece. It helps the kabocha keep its shape, and it gives the bowl the five-color feeling washoku loves: orange flesh, green skin, pale sesame, soy-dark gloss, and the empty space around it. Honmono often looks this modest.