Photo Courtesy of Peter Soucy

This week’s recipe is shrimp and butternut squash in coconut milk (Ginataang Hipon). This recipe was given to my family by our cousins, the Rayos. It’s a Filipino meal passed to them by their grandparents. Ginataang literally means “prepared with coconut milk” and hipon means “shrimp.” This dish is creamy but fresh-tasting and takes less than 45 minutes to cook. I use tilapia instead of shrimp in my version to save some money. 

Ingredients:

• 1 can of coconut milk

• 2 cloves of garlic, diced

• A few small strips of ginger, diced

• Fish sauce (optional)

• 3 cups of diced butternut squash

• 1 1/2 lbs. of shrimp or white fish

• Salt & pepper to taste

• Water

• 2 cups of Jasmine rice

Instructions:

1. Cook the rice on a stove top or in a rice cooker.

2. In a medium-sized pot on medium-high heat, saute garlic, ginger and coconut milk and stir constantly until the milk begins to boil (add a few dashes of fish sauce here if desired).

3. Add butternut squash and stir often until squash becomes soft enough to be mashed by a fork (you may need to add some water if the coconut milk evaporates too much).

4. Add shrimp or fish and cover until cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve over rice and enjoy leftovers all week.