As you know
I bought some wintermelon without having a clue what to do with it. Wintermelon is also known in some countries
as Ash Gourd or White Gourd. When it is
young it is sweet but not when it is fully grown.
After some
research I based this soup on a Chinese style one while not using exactly the
technique or ingredients the Chinese would.
The results
were surprisingly good – I'll be cooking with wintermelon again.
Ingredients:
Some
homemade ham and pork broth
A large
slice of wintermelon (rind cut off and seeds removed)
Zucchini (courgette)
Celery
stick
Fresh
ginger
Fresh
turmeric
Some frozen
shrimp
Salt/pepper
Oil (I used
a mix of mustard, chilli and garlic)
Prep:
Peel and
finely dice your celery stick.
Grate a
knob of ginger
Grate a
knob of turmeric
Chop your
zucchini up into medium sized pieces
Chop your
wintermelon up into bite sized chunks
Finely
slice some ginger into little sticks or batons
Thaw your
prawns and stock
Cook:
Fry your
celery gently in the oil together with the grated ginger and turmeric. Add a touch of salt. When the celery looks a bit soft, add your
stock to it (with some extra water if you need a bit more liquid). Bring to the boil.
Add the zucchini
and wintermelon and simmer for about 20
minutes until the melon is fairly translucent.
Then add
your ginger batons and finally your shrimp – in my case they had been
pre-cooked so just needed heating through.
I tasted the soup and found that it needed more salt.
For the
pic, I garnished the soup with a sprig of basil.
I'm fascinated by the wintermelon. I've seen it but never tired it but I love the idea of this soup - especially with the hint of ginger added in. I'm allergic to shrimp but I'm sure I could find some kind of workaround though it won't be as pretty as yours. This sounds delicious though I will be sure to taste for salt content!
ReplyDeleteInstead of shrimp some bacon or ham would work fine. The Wintermelon has a nice texture but not too much flavour of its own so it needs to be paired with something flavourful. Cheers
DeleteI don't believe I've ever cooked with wintermelon before, or noticed it in the markets. Your soup sounds good.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of wintermelon before, thanks for enlightening me.
ReplyDeleteWintermelon is a new agreement for m e too.
ReplyDeleteI've tasted wintermelon soup before (Chinese style) and it was pretty bland. I like your idea of adding tumeric, ginger and fragrant oils to punch it up a little. Sounds good!
ReplyDeleteI have never used winter melon before. I like almost all Asian soups.
ReplyDeleteI have had wintermelon before but have never cooked with it myself. It looks like a tasty soup.
ReplyDeleteOoooo, not too late to hook up with Deb's Souper Sunday (you don't have to post on Sunday). I like a soup like this, Asian flavors. Looking good
ReplyDeleteWintermelon is new to me too. But that soup looks delicious. Sorry I was late getting here this week -- we were out of town.
ReplyDeleteI've never had wintermelon. I wonder if I could find it where I live. I love shrimp and the other ingredients.
ReplyDelete