Gilbert lau

Braised fuzzy melon with spare ribs

Serves 4
Fuzzy melon - approx 1.2 kg
400 gm pork spare ribs
Seasoning for spare ribs:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornflour

2 cups peanut oil
1 clove garlic crushed

Sauce:
1 teaspoon ground bean paste
1 tablespoon Shaoshing wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce500 ml chicken stock

Thickening:
2 teaspoons cornflour in 2 teaspoons water

Peel the skin, cut the end and cut the melon into 4 horizontal halves. Remove the part where the seeds are from the melon, this should now leave approx 600 gm. of melon. Wash the melon. Hold your chopper at an angle of 45 degrees away from you and slice right through at this angle into approximately 1.5 inch (4cm) thick.

Wash the spare ribs. Cut into approximately 2.5 inch (6.5cm) pieces. Mix the spare ribs with the seasoning.

Heat the oil in the wok or pan over high heat, deep fry the spare ribs for aproximately 1 minute. Remove the spare ribs.

Put the melon in the wok and deep fry for 1 minute. Remove the melon

Drain off the oil, leaving about 1 tablespoon oil in the wok over moderate heat. Add garlic and gently sizzle (don't burn the garlic) then add the ground bean paste, Shaoshing wine and spare ribs and toss quckly. Add the remaining sauce and cover with lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the melon to the wok and simmer for a further 10 minutes

Stir in the thickening and serve immediately

Gilbert recommends serving this melon dish with steamed rice and a green vegetable. If you wish to make a more substantial meal, he suggested buying a Chinese roast chicken, chopped and serving a plate of this with the melon and rice.

Fuzzy Melon - Cheet gwa

This melon might be mistaken for a cucumber or a courgette except for its skin texture (hairy), color (blotchy), and shape (broader than the former two, and slightly swollen at each end like a dumbell). The average specimen measures 4-8 inches in length and 2-3 inches in diameter.

The smaller and younger they are the firmer and more uniform the flesh.

Fuzzy melon is a diminutive race of the gigantic winter melon. Like the British vegetable marrow and the American zucchini, it is bland in flavor with a fine-grained texture that softens quickly and readily absorbs flavors in cooking