Mouse Melon Stir-Fry

I found this cute-looking gourd at my usual stall in Mongkok. The middled-age man and the old lady (I guess Mum & Son) are always very kind to me. I know that it must be annoying to answer all the foreigner's (gwái-pòh!) questions. Not only do I ask the name of their produces, how to cook them, but also how to write the name in Chinese! They are so patient. And I am so lucky and thankful.

This fruit plant is called "mouse 老鼠 lóuh-syú"  melon (gwâ 瓜) due to its shape and colour which looks like the small rodent. The surface of the melon is covered by a greyish fur-like velvet.

Ingredients:

• 2 mouse melon 老鼠瓜
• 2 square pcs of dried bean curd (dauh-fuh-gôn - 豆腐亁）
• 1 medium size wheat gluten / gluten meat (mihn-gân 麵根)
• 100gr fresh oyster mushrooms
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 shallots
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil

Seasoning:

• 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce (seafood sauce)
• 1 tsps light soya sauce
• 1 tsps sugar
• black pepper & salt, to taste

Note: I also added 1/2 zucchini (left-over) 

Steps:

1. Wash clean the mouse melons.
2. Peel and cut lenghtwise. Using a spoon scrap to remove the seeds and fibrous flesh.
3. Cut again lengthwise and slice into 1 cm thick pieces.
4. Wash and cut into large pieces dried bean curd and gluten meat. Pat dry with paper towel.
5. Wash the mushrooms. Pat dry with paper towel.
6. Heat oil in frying pan. Stir-fry bean curd and gluten until lightly brown. Set aside.
7. In the same pan stir-fry garlic and shallot until translucent.
8. Add mushrooms. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
9. Add melon, beancurd, gluten meat and seasoning in. Mix all ingredients well (if necessary add a little bit of water)
10. Reduce heat to low and cook until mouse melon is tender.

The taste of mouse melon is a bit similar to zucchini squash. Mouse melon flesh is firmer and greener, and it better holds its shape than fuzzy melon (hairy gourd / jit gwâ 莭瓜).  It does not have the strong hearthy flavour of the angled gourd (silk gourd 絲瓜).

I will definitely buy again this gourd and highly recommend it to you!

About Chinese Soups & Chinese White Cabbage and Bean Curd Soup

Before coming to Hong Kong I only drank vegetable soups. Most of them were made with potato, leek, and carrot – homely soups prepared every day by my mum.  However, here in Hong Kong, most of the Chinese soups contain meat in addition to vegetables. They also include dried fruits such as honey dates, legumes or nuts such as green beans, peanuts, apricot kernels, and even dried seafood.  

At first I found Chinese soups quite strong in taste and too greasy. I would not have imagined that one day I would drink such a rich broth. During my first year in Hong Kong I did not really appreciate Chinese style soups.  It was as if I was drinking the broth of a pot-au-feu [a popular and rather low-cost French dish made of carrots, turnips, leeks, onion, and beef - usually a cartilaginous cut or bone with marrow - and boiled for a few hours]. Pot-au-feu is the closest thing I can think of that can be compared with Chinese soups.

Today I really appreciate the taste and virtues of these nutritious soups and like most local people I drink them with pleasure. I do believe that similarly to western medicinal herbs most of the dried foods (such as those put in Chinese soups) have specific therapeutic values.

After almost 25 years in Hong Kong I say without hesitation that I love Chinese soups. Of course I still love the soups my mother makes although they taste different.  I even enjoy having a soup in the summer!  I also understand why my husband after a few days in France would always ask my mother to prepare him a dish of “pot-au-feu”. He is missing Chinese soups!

I think that Hong Kong people not only like soups for their properties but also the feeling hidden behind: going to one’s parents to drink soup is very important.  I often heard my colleagues and friends mentioning that their parents had asked them to go home to “drink soup / yám tong”.

Are soups a symbol of love and more specifically of filial love? Is it because not only soups are nutritious but also need time to cook and therefore shows the mum’s devotion to her family?
Time spent by the mother expresses her love towards her children. After their young ones get married and live on their own they usually have no time to cook such soups at their home as they work long hours. Parents will call back their little ones home and show their love by preparing them a nutritious soup to keep them strong and healthy!

There are 3 kinds of soups:

1) Slow-cooked soups that are simmered for at least 2 hours under direct heat.

2) Double boiled soups (or herbal soups) that are made with delicate ingredients such as bird’s nest.

3) Quick soups: as the name indicates, need a shorter time to cook than slow-cooked soups.

Here is my recipe of Chinese white cabbage and bean curd soup (a quick soup).

Soup with fresh baahk-choi only

Soup with fresh and dried baahk-choi

Ingredients: 

• ~300gr (1/2 catty) spareribs (cut into small pieces) or lean pork (sliced)
• 1 block of solid bean curd
• 300gr (1/2 catty) Chinese white cabbage (cut into short lengths)
• 6 rice bowls of water
• 1 slice ginger
• ½ tsp salt

Steps:

1. Wash meat clean and scald it in boiling water and drain for use.  Wash Chinese white cabbage. Wash the bean curd clean.
2. Bring water to a boil. Add meat and ginger slice in and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for ½ hour.
3. Put the bean curd in to boil for 15 minutes.
4. Add the Chinese white cabbage in and boil for another 10-15 minutes.
5. Add salt to taste before serving.

Option: Add ~75gr of dried baahk-choi (previously rinsed with water and soaked in warm water for at least 1 hour). Remember to decrease the quantity of fresh baahk-choi (250gr are enough).  

Dried Chinese white cabbage (baahk-choi)

Note: I bought a pack (130gr) of dried baahk-choi at HK$12 (at Yue Wah Chinese Products). The pack can be divided to make 2 soups.

Dried foods 3 (menu 2)

Fermented bean paste, dauh-báan-jeung

Solid bean curd / Ngaahng dauh-fuh

Menu 2

Chinese White Cabbage with Tofu Soup

Sautéed Eggplants

Vegetables of the Day 

1) Chinese White Cabbage with Tofu Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 catty (300 g) spareribs or lean pork
• 1 block of solid bean curd, ngaahng (hard) dauh-fuh*
• 300 g Chinese white cabbage, baahk-choi**
• 6 bowls of water
• 1 slice ginger
• ½ tsp salt

* photo on post 4/06/11
** photo on Vegetables Page

Steps:

1. Wash the bean curd clean.
2. Wash pork ribs clean, cut them into small pieces, scald them in boiling water and drain.
3. Wash Chinese white cabbage and cut into short lengths.
4. Bringing water to a boil, put spareribs and ginger slice in to boil over medium heat for ½ hour.
5. Put the bean curd in to boil for 15 minutes
6. Add the Chinese white cabbage in and boil for another 10-15 minutes.
7. Add salt to taste before serving.

2) Sautéed Eggplants

Ingredients:

• 500 g eggplants sliced thickly
• 2 tbsp rice wine (Shaoxing)
• 2 tbsp fermented bean paste, dauh-báan-jeung*
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp white wine
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tsp ground white sesame seeds, roasted
• ½ tsp sesame oil

 * see photo on post 4/6/11

Steps:

1. Soak the eggplant in a bowl of water for a few minutes. Drain water and wipe thoroughly the eggplants with paper towels.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When oil is hot drop the eggplants into the pan. Fry for about 3 minutes on both sides or until the flesh is soft.
3. Transfer the eggplants onto a rack lined with paper towels (cut side down) to drain. Discard oil.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the pan over medium-high heat and add the green bell pepper. Stir-fry for 20 minutes or until the pepper is bright green.
5. Add the eggplants, and the fermented bean paste combined with rice wine, white wine, and sugar. Gently toss the vegetables to coat with the sauce. Transfer to a serving dish. 
6. Roast the ground sesame seeds and garnish the dish.  Pour sesame oil on top.

 3) Shanghai white cabbage (siú-tòhng-choi) 

Ingredients:

• 1 catty of Shanghai white cabbage, siú-tòhng-choi
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp salt 

Steps:

1. Wash vegetables clean.
2. In a large saucepan, bring water with salt, garlic and vegetable oil to a boil. Add vegetables in and boil for a few minutes until tender but still bright green.
3. Drain and serve in a plate.