My sister has been growing what we thought was a watermelon. Maybe an Ali Baba. Something yummy and sweet.
Well so we thought.
It started growing bigger, like a long, Tic Tac shaped melon, then developed this white dusting, chalky, waxy coating on it.
We were so looking forward to eating it.
A nice, juicy, sweet, red, crisp watermelon.
We cut it open, nothing sweet at all.
Instead we got a light white, green spongy, fibrous tasting of a faint cucumber which turned out to be a Winter Melon.
Winter Melon sounds glamorous, it’s actually a wax gourd. A very flavorless one. It actually goes by a lot of names and you’re not supposed to eat it raw and it’s pretty much flavorless on its own.
However it does take on the flavors of whatever you cook it with so I made a spicy soup out of it and it turned out quite delicious!
Spicy Winter Melon Soup | Erica Robbin
We thought this was a nice red, juicy, sweet watermelon, instead we got this surprise.
Credit: ericarobbin.com
Ingredients
- GARDEN MEDLEY SOUP:
- 4 cups chopped Winter Melon, small cubes
- 1 cup cooked pork belly, cubed
- 4-6 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 2 stalks scallions
- 3-5 peppers, chopped, I used Serranos and Mad Hatters
- 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup white wine
- Garden herbs, any variety, I used a bit of thyme
Directions
- GARDEN MEDLEY SOUP:
- Cook Winter Melon in water over med-high heat for 20 minutes, drain.
- Simmer Winter Melon, pork belly, broth, onions, peppers, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, oregano, pepper, salt, and white over med-low heat for about 15 minutes until all vegetables are tender. I will say it does taste more flavorful the next day.
Have you ever tried this gourd? Have you ever grown an incidental vegetable that you didn’t know what to do with? Let me know what interesting harvests you have come across in the comments below!
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