Chinese · Summer and autumn
Winter Melon Soup
A clear pot. Winter melon simmered until it turns translucent, with ginger and a little pork or chicken added at the end so the meat stays tender. No oil.
40 minutes · Serves 6 · About 8 cups
“You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
Ingredients
- 2 lb winter melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 6 cups water, or light chicken broth
- 4 slices of ginger
- 8 oz lean pork or boneless chicken thigh, sliced thin
- 1 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
Method
- 1
Peel the melon, scrape out the seeds and the spongy center, and cube the firm flesh. The green skin is not eaten.
- 2
Put the melon, water, and ginger in a pot. Bring it to a simmer. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, until a cube is translucent and tender, not mush.
- 3
Add the pork or chicken and the salt. Simmer until the meat is just cooked, 3 to 5 minutes for thin slices. Pork should have no pink. Chicken slices of this size are done when they are opaque, which is past 165°F in a piece that thin.
- 4
White pepper. Taste for salt. The soup should taste of melon, not of a heavy broth. Do not boil it for another half hour after the meat goes in.
From the kitchen
- If you cannot find winter melon, this is not the same soup made with zucchini. Zucchini falls apart and tastes green. Wait for the melon.
- A few soaked dried shrimp, rinsed, can go in with the ginger if you want the older coastal pot. They are salty. Hold back some of the salt until you taste.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
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