This iconic Herring and Pumpkin Pot Pie from Kiki’s Delivery Service is as cozy and pretty as the film!
Enjoying my Studio Ghibli recipe series? I miiiight be ending it (for now) with this recipe but will be continuing the #AnimeEats series and periodically will be posting more Studio Ghibli and other anime recipes! Today’s Studio Ghibli recipe is the iconic Herring and Pumpkin Pot Pie from Kiki’s Delivery Service!
I’ve always loved Kiki’s Delivery Service. One of our cats is even named Kiki, after Kiki (yes, I know her cat’s name is Jiji but we liked Kiki better). She makes a quick cameo in my cooking video so check her out. 😉
This dish is a bit more time consuming and labor intensive than my other Ghibli recipes but it’s really fun and unique. I love a good pot pie but I’ve never had a herring and pumpkin one before (or made one with such an intricate design).
There is no one way to make this dish. I’ve seen all sorts of renditions online but I developed this recipe to 1. keep it as simple as possible (some I’ve seen get sooo complicated) and 2. basing if off recipes I found in Japanese.
A little on the ingredient choices:
For the pumpkin, I went with kabocha, which is Japanese pumpkin (a type of winter squash). It’s bright, creamy, and delicious. If you don’t have access to kabocha, sweet potato or butternut squash can work.
For the fish, I used a classic Swedish canned herring. While I’ve seen recipes where people use fresh herring (or similar fish), I dug a bit into the background of the location & time period of the film and figured most likely, canned herring would be used so I went with that (plus – it’s easy). Just a fair warning, Sweden is known for their strong smelling canned herring.
If really smelly fish isn’t your thing, I think this would taste delicious with a milder white fish or even chicken!
Also, it takes time to make fish out of puff pastry. It still took me some time to cut out even though it was easier than I anticipated.
The recipe may look really daunting BUT if you take it step by step it’s not nearly as bad as it looks. While there’s a lot of steps, nothing in this (aside from making the fish design) is actually very difficult! Ultimately, it was a very fun recipe to create.
Herring and Pumpkin Pie (Kiki’s Delivery Service) / ニシンとかぼちゃのパイ (魔女の宅急便)
Ingredients
- 1/2 kabocha (approx 3/4 lbs)
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 can herring
- 1-2 puff pastry sheets frozen or homemade
- black olives cut
- salt & pepper
- shredded white cheese can buy pre-shredded or grate yourself. can use any white cheese like parmesan, swiss, etc.
Bechamel Sauce (White Sauce)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 1/4 cup hot milk
- salt & pepper
Egg Wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Scoop out the seeds from the kabocha.
- Cut the kabocha into smaller pieces. Steam until softened (about 15 minutes).
- Remove the skin of the kabocha. Place kabocha pieces into a medium sized bowl.
- Finely chop the onion. In a medium pan, heat oil on medium. Cook the onions until translucent.
- Add the onion to the kabocha and mix, while making sure to break up the kabocha well.
Now make the bechamel sauce:
- In a small saucepan, heat the butter on medium-low heat.
- Once melted, whisk in 2 tbsp flour until it bubbles (make sure not to burn it).
- Take your hot milk and pour it in and continue to whisk.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and whisk until the sauce thickens.
Now back to the pot pie:
- Add the bechamel sauce to the kabocha mixture in the bowl. Mix well – until creamy.
- Add salt & pepper to taste.
- Transfer the mixture into a casserole dish.
- Open up the canned herring and place on top of the kabocha mixture.
- Place shredded white cheese or grate white cheese on top of the herring.
- Prep a sheet of puff pastry dough. This can be pre-made or you can make it from scratch.
- Place a thin sheet of puff pastry dough over to cover the casserole. You can cut it to fit the casserole or let it hang over the edges.
- Using another sheet of puff pastry dough, cut out the fish design and place it on top of the casserole.
- Mix your egg wash ingredients. Put egg wash onto the dough, being careful not to create any pools.
- Place cut olives around the edge of the dish.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the pot pie for 25-30 minutes.
- Enjoy immediately. いただきます (itadakimasu)!
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