Anything made with squash just seems to tickle my fancy!  Love the stuff!

Kabocha is my absolute favorite! I have a hard time not putting it in EVERYTHING!!

I have made this twice and it is awesome.  Once I didn't have a lot of time so I just steamed the squash, and used a can of beans and it was equally delicious.  The shoyu is the secret!

OK - I don't know what I did wrong but I tried to make this and I didn't like it at all. I love squash and i love beans, so I'm confused. It was bland and the beans were icky. Maybe I just don't know how to cook beans? I love a lot of the other recipes, though... this one was just - not good. What could I be doing wrong? Do we think that it may be because I didn't cook it in cast iron or clay? Could that alter the flavor?

Hi Samantha - I'm sorry this didn't work out quite right for you.  This is one of my fav recipes in the book, so let's figure out what went wrong.  You def don't need to cook it in clay or cast iron.  You can use a regular pot for sure.  Do you maybe not love adzuki beans?  If they were bland, you could put a little extra shoyu in at the end (cooking it in) or even add a little ume vinegar (that makes everything better in general).  Have you tried other adzuki bean recipes that you love?  Also, if you overcook adzuki beans, they can become mushy...did that happen? 

I would love to try this recipie but cannot find the beepin Kobacha squash anywhere

Haven't been able to find kabocha squash where I live, so I'm going to try it with butternut squash.  I've been wanting to try this recipe ever since I saw it in your book!  Looks YUMMM!!!

I made this a few weeks ago...turned it into a soup...it was DELICIOUS!

Hi, Samantha.  I made this and didn't like it much -- seemed quite icky to me, too.  I suspect I didn't like the kombu and am planning to try again without it. 

i cant find the kobacha squash either, so i was considering doing the butternut squash as well. or how about sweet potato?

Samantha & BJ - I made it, and didn't enjoy it as well, and I do like both adzuki & kombu.  My one adapation was one that Alicia listed, I used carrots instead of the squash.  Mine had a very earthy...almost dirty taste, as if it were made with unwashed beans or carrots (they were washed, I promise!).  Perhaps it was because the shoyu was such a small amount, and I'm used to dishes with a more added flavoring.  I ended up adding in a lot of misc spices to try and make it tastier, but it still wasn't that great.

At least the ingredients weren't expensive! =)

You can find Kobacha squash at an Asian market.  After weeks of wondering where I could find a lot of the ingredients in the book's recipes, I finally decided to try a local Asian supermarket.  I not only found the squash, but I found the Daikon and Lotus Root too!  They also carried the variety of seaweed, azuki beans, twig teas and umeboshi plums.  As for this recipe, I like things a little on the sweet side and what really helped was making it with a variety...I used some Kobacha squash, some butternut squash and some carrots.  It was delicious!

How funny, I am soaking the azuki beans as we speak, and making this for dinner tonight! It was meant to be... I haven't tried it yet and am excited to!

Maybe I'll try it tonight or this weekend.....it looks good- although I will be using Butternut Squash- as I can't find the Kabosha squash here!!.....

I've been able to find almost everything at an Asian market as well. The one near me does not carry Kobacha squash either though. But luckily I went to a local organic gardening store and the lady there is ordering in seeds for me so I can grow my own :) I also think a farmers market would be a good place to check but they haven't started in my area yet.