Most evening, after a hearty dinner, I will be glued seated in front of the idiot box, watching the food channel most of the time... trotters wrestling for the channels...he wants to watch his channel and I want my food channel....so we draw a line....he records his programme and leaving me the evening to watch my korean dramas and my food channels....I won the wrestling coz I am the Queen Sow ! LOL! Just kidding, he is named Wild Boar but he is a gentle boar and always giving way to me...hahaha okay I have digress a bit but it has something to do with this winter melon. Saw this on Astro....and I tried to replicate this dish and whoa...it turned out to be great...especially , I added dried scallop to the soup ! I make this for my Piggy Josh when he came back last Friday :) he loved it and Wild Boar show the fingers sign... thumbs up ! LOL! So he was happy I cooked this for him after watching the chef did this on Astro ! :p A simple and tasty dish which I will add to cook list for the coming CNY reunion dinner...yea I know it is still a long way from now, but just the same, a great dish to add to the CNY menu :)
Winter Melon can be cooked as dessert or savory dish like the one above. Most of the time I will cook it as a cooling tea for the family , especially on hot weather like now. But last Saturday, I cooked the melon with a twist....after watching the Chef 's demonstration. No recipe given . I tried to replicate his dish . It looks so good on screen that I have to buy the ingredients and make the dish myself and my taster confirmed it that it was good...for people who eat western food most of the time can say this is good , I trust Piggy Josh's review on my this dish ! He say it is good, the flavorful soup soaked into the steamed winter melon and the woody smell of the fresh mushrooms and the dried scallop gave it the oomph needed to flavor up the dish. He rated it 8/10 !!! hahaha that is why I love my Piggies so much :p They always give me good ratings for my food :)) I am sure they are smart as not to offend the Chef of the house ! Okay...not my recipe , I copycat it from Astro LOL!
cut the melon into neat squares...the leftovers
melon of all sizes can be used for making the chinese cooling tea...
steam the square melons for 20-25 minutes -
for me , I steamed it for 20 minutes and it turned out perfect
over steaming will have you a mushy and soft melon
fresh mushroom ( Shimeiji ) ...saute with olive oil and
chopped garlic till soft and cooked...
boil dried scallop, wolfberries and red dates
with 2 - 3 cups of water till aromatic and the
scallop is soft...under medium low heat....add in chinese wine
and chicken stock and a pinch of salt for taste..
boil for 3/4 hour....
assemble the sauteed mushrooms and
dried scallop and wolberries on top of the
steamed melon
I gave the melon dish a twist by adding dried scallop
...it was not in the dish presented by the
Chef but I added it for Piggy Josh ...he loves dried scallops!
pour the wolfberries and scallop soup over the melon
gosh, it smells good and I knew it would be tasty
as shown on Astro and I managed to replicate well :p
scoop the melon together with the soup and the first
mouthful had my Piggy Josh enthralled...the texture
of the melon was perfect and the soup
was tasty and the dried scallop gave the soup
its natural sweetness....awesome !
A beautiful dish that I want to share with you guys....
saw the demonstration on Astro.....and after which nothing
one can stop me from making this dish !
Have a blessed day !
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