Roasted kabocha squash with garlic soy sauce caramel and basil oil

Scoop the seeds out of half a kabocha squash with a thin spoon and scrape off the loose fibres.

Cut into wedges about an inch thick at the thickest part: wedge a sturdy knife in and wiggle it through rather than hacking. Leave the skin on; trim off the core and the end.

Cut the ends off five garlic cloves, smash them into big rustic broken pieces and peel; tear or cut down any very chunky pieces.

Put the garlic in oil in a little pot and gently simmer over quite low heat a couple of minutes to infuse; remove as soon as it starts to turn golden, along with any small pieces.

In the same oil, slowly melt palm sugar and cook, watching carefully, until it caramelises and deepens a little.

Heat off; add the soy sauce (it stops the cooking and splatters) and swirl until the sugar dissolves. Thin with a splash of water so it brushes easily.

Brush the squash on both sides away from the baking sheet, so drips of sugar do not burn, then transfer to the sheet. Tuck the garlic within the curve of the squash so it does not burn.

Roast in a 425 degree oven, about 20 minutes total; after 10 minutes glaze again and flip.

Basil oil: chop basil quickly, put in a mortar with a little pinch of salt for friction and flavour, cover with a couple tablespoons of oil and grind until the basil is smushed and the oil aromatic.

Reapply the glaze, flip and glaze the other side; dab a little glaze on the garlic too.

Return to the oven another 15 minutes or until a fork goes right through the thickest piece.

Plate on a platter, drizzle with the basil oil and garnish with anything else liked; drizzle on the saved glaze for extra seasoning.