Thursday, September 9, 2010

Sharkfin Melon Treasure



I saw this recipe from one of my asian dishes cookbook. And being someone who loves to cook something different from daily mundane dishes, I was quick to take the opportunity to try it out during one of the weekend.  I bought one medium sized sharkfin melon and gathered whatever ingredients I have in the fridge and managed to make something delicious out of them :p  Read on for the recipe :)


This is kind of fun , with chestnuts, fresh king oyster mushrooms , dried shiitake , dried scallops , diced chicken fillets, baby carrots and bird eye chillies all in a melon treasure !


left :  cooked sharkfin melon pulp  - it does look like sharkfin :p
right : diced baby carrots


left:  chestnuts
right : dried scallops


left : diced dried shiitake
right:  fresh king oyster mushroom


left : marinated diced chicken fillets with oyster sauce
right : all the ingredients needed for this dish :)
you can use ingredients of your choice


method:
saute garlic wth grapeseed oil till fragrant, add in chicken fillets and 
the rest of the ingredients and stir fry till all ingredients
 are cooked through add in 1/4 cup of chicken broth , 
add in seasonings and thickening last.
Dish  into steamed/cooked  half melon  and served 
with the prepared chicken broth gravy.


Make sure the half melon is steamed and cooked throughly
before you dish the stir fried goodies
into the half melon case .  yummy !



Sharkfin Melon Treasure



Ingredients:

a few pieces of chicken fillets - diced and marinated with oyster sauce and ground pepper
1/2 cup cooked sharkfin pulps
(A)
1/4 cup dried scallops -soaked
10 pieces of chestnut - soaked

Braise (A)  together with 1 tsp of oyster sauce and 1 cup of water till soft. Drain off  and keep the liquid.

3 pieces of dried shiitake - soaked and diced
3 pieces of fresh king oyster mushroom - washed and drained- diced
3 baby carrots - diced
5 pips garlic - chopped fine
2 tbsp grapeseed oil

1 med. sized sharkfin melon - cut into half
* one half melon to be used as casing for the stir fried fillings - remove seeds and steamed till cooked but still remain firm. The other half ,cut a slice and steam till cooked. Remove the pulps and use as one of the ingredients.

300 ml chicken broth - take out 1/4 cup for the stir fry, the rest is for the making gravy to go with the melon treasure.

To make chicken broth gravy :

(B)
balance of the above chicken broth + the liquid from the braising of the chestnut and scallops
1 tbsp oyster sauce
chinese cooking wine

Boil (B) in a clean wok add in thickening. Dish onto the ready to be served sharkfin melon treasure.

thickening for the gravy :
1/2 tbsp of corn flour
3 tbsp of water.


* one half melon to be used as casing for the stir fried fillings - remove seeds and steamed till cooked but still remain firm. The other half ,cut a slice and steam till cooked. Remove the pulps and use as one of the ingredients.

Method :

In a wok , saute garlic wth grapeseed oil till fragrant under medium heat,  add in chicken fillets and the rest of the ingredients and stir fry till all ingredients are cooked through add in 1/4 cup of chicken broth and simmer , add in salt to taste and thickening last.  Dish into steamed/cooked half melon and served with the prepared chicken broth gravy.

Enjoy !



Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri To all my Muslims friends and readers :)





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15 comments:

  1. My grandma makes something like that too! I just ate some chestnuts like that today too, what a coincidence. I thought it was a chestnut, but I wasn't sure so I asked my mom and grandma. They told me it was a "li zi", but I had no idea what that was.

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  2. WOW! This one got lots of ingredients in there. Must be very delicious!

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  3. that's a very creative way of using the melon! My mum just chops in chunks and puts it in soup. Must get her to try your method! Mind you, as she grows these in the garden (next to the raspberry bushes ;0) ) they have a tendency to get too large!

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  4. Whoa, this looks superb for this celebration! haha... I think we're celebrating it as well. Must be very delicious. Must call Claire to come over huh! hehe....
    Goodnight, Kristy

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  5. Nice, got to make this dish for a good friend, he is crazy about roasted chestnuts! Nice presentation.

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  6. such yummy dish. You know what the word verification I've got ? "Morice" ...even the system also asking for More Rice to eat with this delicious dish

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  7. this dish has CNY mood. So many ingredients and looks yummy.

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  8. Great and unique recipe. Lots of flavors mixed in there.

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  9. Hi elin, just want to let you know that i would like to share an award with you. Go and check my blog on this under 'award' posting. Happy Holidays!

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  10. you certainly out did yourself with this dish, there is nothing ordinary about it!! wow, what a great presentation!! you have such a wonderful blend of flavors going on, I would love to have tasted it!!
    Great Job!

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  11. looks really cool and delicious! haha...

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  12. Esther....me too ' li zi ' may be chestnut in Mandarin :p

    Grace....yup that is why it is called a treasure :))

    PL...oh it is nice to braised the ingredients together and pour into the melon and eat them with scoops of the delicious and tasty gravy ...yummy ! How is the baby getting on ? :) Much be cute as the momsie and handsome as the dad :)

    Kristy....getting ready for CNY ! Trying out dishes now :p

    Quay Po Cooks.....haha how nice if someone present this dish as a gift for me :)

    Kathy....come here more often and you will be a good cook for your Joshua too and he will come running home for homecooked food !

    Jess....I am trying out dishes for CNY now :p

    Jason...yup this is so flavorful and unique..am trying it out,if good then will cook this dish for our coming Chinese New Year reunion dnner :)

    lena....thanks for the award. You too ...I am looking forward the next long holiday that is from 16th onwards :)

    Cehf Dennis....thanks for your kind words ...haha yup the most flavorful dish ever !

    Angie...yessss it is :p

    Gabriel...hi how you doing young man..with your new job...full of adventures I guess :)

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  13. Ann....haha yup unique and a wonderful burst of flavor from this treaure melon casing :p

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