#fuzzy melon

For dinner, it is takeaway Economy Rice (菜饭) from the nearby coffee shop. I had hairy gourd stir-fry with egg, stewed egg tofu and crispy calamari 🦑 to go with my rice. Mum’s meal box had just two dishes of hairy gourd 🥒 stir-fry and julienned carrots 🥕 plus a portion of sweet & sour pork (咕噜肉) because she can’t finish it if I add on another dish.

Hairy Gourd (毛瓜) or Fuzzy Melon (节瓜) is a variety of winter melon (Benincasa hispida var. chieh-gua) commonly used in Chinese cuisine. Mum sliced the peeled melon into matchstick size and sauteed with minced pork, prawns and tomato wedges. She also cooked a dish of Spicy Chicken & Bamboo Shoots with tomato using deboned whole chicken legs.

My dinner tonight is composed of two leftovers, namely pork ribs soup and hairy gourd & chicken stir-fry. Added a poached egg to the soup but it is kind of overcooked. The new dish is mum’s specialty Fried Chicken Cutlet with tangy sweet tomato sauce.

Match-stick size Hairy Gourd (毛瓜/节瓜) with canned baby abalones. Some called it Fuzzy melon (Benincasa hispida var. chieh-gua) or if left to mature, the fuzzy exterior disappears, becoming known as winter melon (冬瓜).

Home-cooked Dinner with fried red snapper steak, stir-fried fuzzy melon with prawns, minced pork & tomato plus pork ribs soup. The soup I will drink later but here are the ingredients I scooped out first – pork ribs, black fungus, fish ball, bean curd skin and potato. All of these I ate with some pumpkin rice.

I love the way mum prepared this Fuzzy Melon (节瓜/毛瓜) which by the way is the younger version of a winter melon (冬瓜) with hairs. She sliced the gourd into matchstick sizes, cooked it with prawns, minced pork and tomatoes. Next she chopped up two whole chicken legs into two pieces each, dusted it with seasoned flour and deep-fried. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the crispy and succulent chicken. Bon appétit.

A takeaway Breakfast box of sweet & sour pork chop, fried egg and stir-fried fuzzy melon (毛瓜/节瓜) over white rice which mum bought back from her trip to Chong Pang.

Mum’s Stir-Fried Fuzzy Melon (节瓜) with canned baby abalones, shiitake mushrooms and minced pork. This vegetable is also called by the name - hairy gourd (毛瓜) locally in Singapore.