China · Home-style
Red-Braised Winter Melon
Winter melon chunks simmered in a glossy brown sauce until soft and thoroughly seasoned. A home-style braise that turns a humble gourd into something tender, fragrant and comforting.
Winter melon keeps for weeks in a cool pantry and turns silky when cooked slowly, so cooks give it a simple soy-based sauce rather than heavy seasoning. It is a standard vegetarian dish on northern family tables, eaten with rice on days when meat is scarce. Pan-frying the chunks before the long braise is what keeps them from collapsing into porridge.
Ingredients
- winter melon300 g
- cooking oil50 ml
- cooking wine2 ml
- cornstarch10 g
- light soy sauce10 ml
- dark soy sauce15 ml
- chicken bouillon powder3 g
- scallion0.5 pieces
- oyster sauce15 ml
Directions
- 1
Peel the winter melon and cut it into chunks no larger than 2 cm on a side.
- 2
Heat the oil in a wok, add the melon and shallow-fry it, turning it slowly, for 2 minutes, until the surfaces turn golden.
- 3
Lift the melon out into a large bowl and set aside.
- 4
Using the oil left in the wok, add minced ginger, light soy sauce and oyster sauce in that order and stir-fry for 15 seconds.
- 5
Return the melon to the wok, toss for 30 seconds, then add boiling water, just covering the melon, and cook over high heat for 10 minutes.
- 6
Add dark soy sauce for colour and keep cooking until the melon is meltingly soft, when a chopstick slides in easily.
- 7
Stir in the chicken bouillon powder, cooking wine and chopped scallion, toss for 30 seconds, then transfer the melon to a large bowl.
- 8
Keep the sauce in the wok, stir in the cornstarch slurry, bring it to a boil and pour it over the melon.
Source: HowToCook · WorldBite adaptation · Unlicense source text; bilingual recipe adapted by WorldBite.