Good Flavor, but Don’t Compromise on the Texture

Good Flavor, but Don’t Compromise on the Texture

Aug 10, 2024

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by

When I ended up not using a squash for the intended recipe, the result was something more flavorful, but with a mix of firmness.

Below are some links to more details, including photos:

My Story
Inspiring Recipe
- First Try
- Second Try
Continuous Improvement
Lesson for Dumber Self
Next Step for You

My Story

Originally, I bought an Opo squash to make beef short rib soup (Galbitang), but decided to use the ribs for a different recipe. As a result, I had to find another idea for the squash.

Inspiring Recipe

After seeing a simple recipe, Ginisang Upo (Sautéed Opo Squash with Shrimp), from the blog, Seaside Recipes, I decided to go with it because of the flexibility to substitute the shrimp with any meat.

First Try

Since I had the majority of the ingredients listed on the recipe, I just had to purchase an onion and a tomato.

Ingredients to Use

I followed the amounts listed in the recipe for all the ingredients except for the produce. For those items, I tried to use extra onion and tomato, as estimated using a couple of online references*, to make up for the shortfall of squash. What I ended up setting out was the following:

2.54 pounds of Opo squash
1 tablespoon of oil
1 small onion (6.35 ounces)
4 cloves of garlic
1 pound of ground beef (substituted for the shrimp due to availability)
1 medium tomato (4.64 ounces)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
⅛ teaspoon of ground black pepper
Salt

* The article from the CulinaryLore’s website, What Size are Small, Medium and Large Onions and How Much Does Each Yield Chopped? and the post, Fresh Tomato Weights (Ultimate Guide With Charts & Calculator), from the site, Weigh School, were helpful references.

Salt, fish sauce, oil, soy sauce, Opo squash, ground beef, garlic, tomato, onion, oyster sauce, and black pepper

Steps to Prepare

For the cooking process, I made a few minor tweaks as shown below:

Step 2 – Cooked the ground beef until brown
Step 3 – Added the soy sauce along with the rest of the sauces since the recipe didn’t specify when to introduce it
Step 4 – Skipped the salt because the dish was salty enough

Sliced opo squash in a white bowl — Sliced Opo squash

Sauce and sliced tomato in shot glasses — Sauce and sliced tomato

Cooking added beef in a wok — Cooking added beef

Tomato, Opo squash, and sauce added to wok for simmering — Tomato, Opo squash, and sauce added for simmering

Time to Eat

After a short amount of cooking time, the dish was ready for dinner!

Sautéed Opo squash with ground beef in a stainless steel bowl — Bowl of sautéed Opo squash with ground beef

Recipe Rating

Below are the results of the recipe after the first try:

# of Ingredients	Effort	$ / Serving	Try Again?
11

Some parts of the squash were harder than others, but they were still good and not overly soft. In addition, the flavor of the beef was great, especially with the fish sauce.