Winter melon is a common vegetable with a sweet, juicy flavor. It’s used as both a medicinal and edible vegetable, boasting numerous health benefits.
Winter melon can be prepared in a variety of ways. I like to stew it with a few star aniseed seeds, a pinch of dried shrimp, or even dried shrimp, for a delicious and savory dish. Winter melon also pairs well with meat, especially when added to soups with pork ribs or cured meats. The resulting broth is rich and flavorful.
Winter melon is sweet, light, and cooling in nature, entering the lung, large intestine, small intestine, and bladder meridians. It moistens the lungs and promotes fluid production, resolves phlegm and quenches thirst, promotes diuresis and reduces swelling, clears away heat and summer heat, and detoxifies and discharges pus.
It’s suitable for those with kidney disease, edema, ascites due to cirrhosis, cancer, beriberi, hypertension, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, obesity, and vitamin C deficiency. Winter melon is cold in nature, so it should be avoided by those with weak spleen and stomach, kidney deficiency, chronic diarrhea, or yang deficiency and cold limbs.
Winter Melon Soup
Ingredients
- winter melon appropriate amount
- dried shrimps appropriate amount
- scallops appropriate amount
- refined salt appropriate amount
- ginger appropriate amount
- pepper appropriate amount
Instructions
- Choose winter melon with thick white foam, as the thick white foam indicates that the winter melon is ripe
- Peel the winter melon, remove the flesh and cut into thick pieces
- Soak the dried scallops and dried shrimps in advance
- Add water to the pot and put in winter melon slices and ginger slices
- After boiling over high heat, add dried shrimp and scallops and simmer over low heat.
- When the winter melon becomes transparent and soft, sprinkle with salt and pepper
