Chinese kabocha squash and sesame pancakes

It's already Week 10 of 12 Weeks of Winter Squash! I have been trying to get a recipe posted for every week of the event because we have so many winter squash in the basement and a variety of kinds. This event helps me to not only use them up, but makes me come up with new ways to use them because I already have a lot of winter squash recipes posted. So far I've been successful in getting a new recipe ready for each week.

This recipe is inspired by this one that I've been interested in trying. After several unsuccessful tries to find glutinous rice flour at a few different stores, I found sweet rice flour at an Asian market around the corner. It worked and they were delicious! We ate these as an appetizer to orange chicken and rice. I did not make these as sweet as the couple of recipes I read. They were still plenty sweet, especially with a drizzle of honey. They'd also be a fun dessert. They are crunchy on the outside and creamy and sweet in the middle. Kabocha is one of my favorite winter squash - it's so colorful, sweet, and dense.

This recipe will make about 15 little pancakes. You can easily adjust it by adding more or less rice flour until you get the proper consistency.

Chinese kabocha squash and sesame pancakes
1 small kobocha squash
pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon honey, plus more for drizzling
about 1-1/2 to 2 cups glutinous (or sticky/sweet) rice flour
coconut (or vegetable) oil, for pan frying
about 1/2 cup sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the sesame seeds in a shallow bowl.

Halve your squash and scrape out all the seeds and strings. Place the squash cut-side up in a baking dish and bake until you can piece the flesh and skin with a fork, about 35-45 minutes.

Let the squash cool until you can hold it. Then scrape out the flesh into a large bowl and mash it with a potato masher until pretty smooth. You want to end up with about 1-1/2 cups of mash (a little more or less is fine). Stir in salt and honey. Then begin to stir in the rice flour 1/2 cup at a time. You want to keep adding it until the mixture becomes dough-like and holds its shape.

Heat a castiron or other non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add a couple tablespoons of oil.

Take the squash mixture about 2 tablespoons at a time and roll it into a ball in your hands (if it starts to fall apart, stir in a bit more rice flour). Gently flatten it into a disc shape about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Gently place the pancake on the sesame seeds and coat each side.

Place in the hot pan. Cook until golden on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat until all the squash mixture has been used.

Serve warm with a drizzle with honey.

What was I cooking one year ago?: salted preserved lemons
Two years ago?: stout macaroni & cheese
Three?: olive oil-almond cake w/ vanilla mascarpone cheese
Four?: pecan crusted chicken
5?: tomato-basil sou