Braised Winter Squash With Fermented Black Beans

Similar to red-braising (紅燒 hóngshāo), when you cover and slowly cook an ingredient in a flavorful liquid, smother-braising (燜 mèn) is simpler and shorter and often relies on more delicate, lighter-colored condiments instead of dark soy sauce, allowing the color of the vegetable to shine through.

In this dish, the squash’s natural sweetness is complemented by the salty, savory fermented black beans, and the squash is cooked until buttery and tender, on the verge of falling apart. My favorite is kabocha squash, which has a velvety, starchy softness and flavor reminiscent of roasted chestnut, but any firm-fleshed winter squash, like red kuri, butternut, or Hubbard, will work.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘The Vegan Chinese Kitchen’ by Hannah Che. Buy the full book on Amazon. Head this way for more winter squash recipes →