Teczcape-An Escape to Food

We are heading towards soup season here, as temperature starts to drop. So it's soup dish today-Winter Melon Soup.


Abeit the word "winter", winter melon is actually not a winter squash. Named winter melon because of the "sugar" concentrated on the outer green skin that resembles frost, thus the term "winter".

Winter melon is perishable when already cut and sold in wedges; compared to hairy melon/fuzzy squash typically sold whole and can keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. You can also use hairy melon/fuzzy for this soup if you prefer, depending on what's available in your local market.

Similar to chayote and the other melons and gourds, Hairy Gourd (a.k.a Jointed Gourd 节瓜) - most often used in Asian/Chinese cooking - is an ingredient that is often consumed in summer, with benefits of alleviating inner body heat and detoxification.

Unlike winter melon 冬瓜 which is considered "cooling" (yin) and perhaps too "cooling" for the chilly fall/winter months, hairy melon is relatively "neutral" - often recommended by Chinese physicians if one cannot take too much "cooling" food. That also means hairy melon can be consumed even when summer is past, and when autumn falls in.


Hairy gourd has mild sweet and succulent flesh, good for making soups, quick-stews and stir-fries.

Hairy/fuzzy melon (Mao Gua 毛瓜 ) stir-fries usually come off as a homey dish - with either dried shrimps or fresh shrimps. Often this melon can also be steamed (usually with meat stuffing) or cooked in soups.

I also found out recently that in Chinese food therapy, fuzzy melon is considered more "neutral", relatively less "cooling" compared to the Yin (cold cooling) nature of most melons such as winter melon, watermelon or cucumber. From the perspective of a Yin (cooling) body, it is advisable to consume less of the "cooling" foods e.g. winter melon, watermelon so that there is no severe imbalance of Yin and Yang.


This Hairy Melon with Shrimps and Glass Noodles  毛瓜炒虾仁 (similar recipe found here) is yet another very common home-cooked dish in many Chinese families. Just cook two more vegetables dishes such as stir-fry asparagus, stir-fry kale and coupled with steamed rice or rice congee (porridge) - a meal is complete

This is the same dish Hairy Melon and Shrimps Stir-Fry 鲜虾炒毛瓜 I have cooked before. However, the hairy melon and shrimps were diced to tiny cubes in this dish, so becomes Hairy Melon with Diced Shrimps 毛瓜炒虾粒 ：）


Shrimps should not be overcooked. If they were added together with the hairy melon to the wok and allowed to cook altogether, the shrimps will be overcooked by the time the hairy melon is cooked tender.

Typically in such a situation, the shrimps are lightly sauteed till partially cooked (just almost about to turn pink), dished out, set aside. Then add the hairy melon, some water/chicken stock, stir-fry then simmer for about 12-15 mins till the hairy melon is cooked, then return shrimps to the same wok, and simmer at low-medium heat about 5-8 minutes till shrimps are completely cooked; and for all the flavors to develop and mix in well.

Best served with steamed rice.

The budget version is with dried shrimps （虾米） while this is the lux version with shrimps/prawns.


Stir-Fry Hairy Melon with Shrimps 鲜虾炒毛瓜
The trick is to pan-fry the shrimps first, to get the shrimp flavor/essence in the oil; then in the same oil, sweat the onions to aromatize, followed by adding the Hairy Gourd/Melon (Mogua 毛瓜) to quickly saute then simmer in low heat to cook the squash. Finally, add the cooked shrimps back, and a little ground white pepper to taste.

The subtle fresh sweetness of hairy melon complements well with the seafood savory of the shrimps/prawns. A light-tasting yet well-balanced dish. Goes well with steamed rice.

Look at the minuscule hair on this melon/squash! That's why it's called hairy melon! Or call it hairy cucumber.

Similar to winter melon, hairy melon-毛瓜 (Mo Gua) has white flesh (firmer than winter melon) and is relatively neutral in taste. Hairy melon works well in soups, steamed or stir-fried! For this Hairy Melon Stir-Fry with Dried Shrimps - 清炒毛瓜, the melon was thinly sliced so it cooks faster and allows flavors to be imparted more evenly and uniformly.


And the ingredients are pretty simple too! Garlic, dried shrimps, hairy melon (grated coarsely, or thinly sliced). A little soy sauce, and lots of ground white pepper to spice it up.

This summer is especially cooling in the Bay Area, California. Unusual - what I always hear over the news. I was deciding between posting a cold noodle summer-like dish and a warm supposedly-non-summer stew-like dish. I will save the cold noodle dish for later. Come the stew. Why save it for Fall or Winter, especially if it is just a quick, light stew fit for all seasons.

Everyone has his or her own vegetable stew recipe and dish. I have many and hard to tell you my favorite. Sometimes, I have one choice of vegetable (choy sum, chayote, okra, Chinese okra, bittermelon, cabbage, etc.) then mix it with tomatoes or mushrooms to give more depth in flavors. Other times, I like to mix everything in a pan like this Cabbage-Bok Choy-Carrot-Mushrooms Stir-Fry or everything in a pot like this Pineapple-Bell Peppers-Broccoli-Tomato Quick-Stew . Then this one: Fuzzy Melon*-Broccoli-Carrot-Mushrooms-Tomato Quick-Stew. Sorry for this kind of string-naming for a dish as I can't be naming every dish - mixed vegetables stir-fry, mixed vegetables soup and mixed vegetables stew. :O

*Fuzzy Melon or Hairy Melon (节瓜 JieGua;  别名:毛瓜 MaoGua) is a summer produce. Mainly moisture/water and Vitamin C, this melon is good for reducing "heatiness", and cools the body, relieving us from the summer heat. It also helps clear toxins from the body. They are suitable for stir-fry, soup, and can be steamed.

This furry hairy Little Winter Melon also known as Hairy Melon can be stir fried, not just in soup or steamed. I used to braise them with dried shrimps, shitake mushrooms and glass noodles into a deep flavorsome dish. Today, I am doing it milder with black fungus and green sweet peas. Black fungus gives this dish deep earthy flavors. Green peas are also naturally sweet. With that touch of salt and white pepper to taste, the dish finishes off with that drizzle of sesame oil for shine and aroma.

The last time I wrote about this prickly gourd was in 2007! WHAaat?! So long?! Does that mean I have not used this gourd for almost 3 years!? YESSssss, as I really cannot remember when was the last time I used it for my cooking. As I have said..."Fairy God Mother's magic wand *bling* will not turn a hairy gourd into a golden carriage for Cinderalla"  but YOU - the Hairy Gourd Mother (sorry, I said you are hairy) with your chopsticks (or wand) *bling bling* can always turn thy gourd from this:

to this:


Hairy gourd(毛瓜, Mao Gua) (you can read their other names here ) is sometimes known as the Little Winter Melon - 冬瓜 . I love them in soups, stir-fries and sometimes, steamed with meat stuffing. I do this steamed meat stuffing thing with bittergourd too and enjoy the dish very much. There goes this Hairy Gourd to Weekend Herb Blogging and this week, we have our host, Huan at Eat.Read.Live.

Steamed Hairy Gourd with Meat Stuffing - 毛瓜蒸肉馅
Ingredients: Hairy Gourd, peeled, cut into 3-cm chunks, remove seeds from the center of each chuck to create "hole" for meat stuffing; Minced Chicken/Pork; [Marinade]: salt, white pepper, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil; wolfberries for garnish

Directions: Prepare the hollowed gourd chucks on a plate. Marinate minced meat and spoon the minced meat into the hollowed chunks. You can allow about 20-30 mins marination time by leaving entire plate of prepared gourd chunks in the fridge. Set the wok or steamer for steaming. Steam for about 12 mins depending on how "thick" the meat stuffing is. (Note: You may have leftover minced meat - they can be used in Seaweed Soup or Watercress Soup).


Mom was asking what I cooked for Dad some time ago:
妈 : 煮什么?
我: 毛瓜, 南瓜, 丝瓜, 佛手瓜...
妈: 没有傻瓜啊 ?
我: 哈哈哈!

For my readers who do not read Mandarin - I was having a Mandarin conversation with Mom about the food I prepared for Dad. I spouted a list of gourds such as pumpkin, loofa, luffa, marrow squash, chayote - belonging to the gourd/squash family - gourd/squash , in Mandarin, is 瓜 (Gua).

She then said something which sets me laughing. She asked "how about 傻瓜 (Sha Gua)?"

傻瓜 (Sha Gua), in Mandarin, also ends with 瓜 (Gua) if you notice, and it means "A Fool" in English.

Tag: hairy gourd, gourd

Have you heard of the Hairy God Gourd ? Oh no, not the Fairy God Mother. Feeling fuzzy like fuzzy logic? You have reason to. Another case of misleading identities or one identity - too many names - Haired gourd, fuzzy gourd, fuzzy squash, mao gua, mo kwa, hairy cucumber, joined gourd. Now...Fairy God Mother's magic wand (*bling*) will not turn a hairy gourd into a hairy carriage but you can always turn the hairy gourd into a delicious homemade dish. I'm bringing hairy gourd to Katie, at Thyme for Cooking at WHB #99.



Now...let's get more fuzzy with this plant. For simplicity sake, let's call it by its other name - Little Winter Melon. Hairy gourd is indeed a small version of Winter Melon. These little winter melons are cylinder shape, about 2inches in diameter, with hairy(prickly) green skin, and are picked for vegetable use when young. The white flesh is firm and mildly sweet. Yes, the skin is prickly.

Ouch!

These little winter melons can be used in a Chinese stir fry, in soups, steamed or braised, without much seasonings required. You can stuff them with chicken/pork like in bittergourds, or cook them in soups. Naturally sweet and tasty. I did this stir fry (without a guided recipe) while drooling over a picture of a homemade dish at a food blog.

Stir fry hairy gourd or little winter melon with mushrooms, and glass noodles


Ingredients: Hairy gourd peeled off skin and cut into thin strips, shitake mushrooms - julienned, 1 clove garlic-minced, Chinese dried shrimps(haebee) soaked in warm water for few mins then drain away water, glass noodles soaked in warm water till soften, chicken or veg broth (or water), 1-2tsp oyster sauce, pepper to taste.

Method:
1. Heat oil at low-medium in frying pan
2. Add garlic and chinese dried shrimps and fry till aromatic
3. Add in mushrooms and hairy gourd, lightly fry for 5mins, mixing well with garlic and dried shrimps.
4. When slightly softened, add in oyster sauce, then water/broth and slowly let simmer 6-8mins, or till hairy gourd is soft. Add in pepper to taste.
5. When almost ready, add in glass noodles and mix well

Thanks, Keropokman. I cooked this (from imagination) based on the key ingredients you mentioned - hairy gourd, mushrooms, glass noodles, and the picture you posted. I added some haebee though. Did your aunt use any other secret ingredient?

Very tasty and quite light. Love it!

Do you know this hairy friend ? How have you seen this in your dish ?

Tag: glass noodles, hairy gourd, winter melon, stir fry