Itching for Fuzzy Melon Soup (Mo Gwa Tong=毛瓜汤)
Now don’t freak over the term Fuzzy Squash or Melon. This squash does have a fuzzy exterior but it is scraped off before cooking. You are left with a sweet, mild, squash that is wonderful in soups, as a side dish with Chinese sausage and bean thread noodles, or stuffed with meat filling and steamed-my favorite, but for another post. We’re talking soup today.
But Let’s Start with Soup ABCs
We can break down Chinese Soups into two categories, quick soups and long, slow simmer soups. We tend to have quick soups on weekday workdays and save slow simmered soups (老火湯,) for the weekend. Both types are delicious of course. Many of the slow simmered soups are thought of as tonics. Various herbs are added for their health benefits. Valid? I’m not sure, I just know they are delicious and comforting. But if you ask my 90+-year-old mom, she would say she is living proof.
But This is About Quick and Easy
I learned how to make this soup from my Dad, the King of “dinner on the table in less than an hour”. To start, marinate ground pork for a couple of minutes (ok, more like 10-15min), then fry it with a couple of slices of ginger until it is no longer pink. Add water or chicken stock along with the rehydrated mushrooms and salted turnip and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Toss in the squash, bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the soup simmers for another 15 minutes or until the squash is translucent. Finish by adding the tofu, and egg and simmer for a couple of minutes to cook the egg. Taste for seasoning, add salt if needed. Garnish with scallions, and bada bing bada boom, ready to eat. My kids always throw rice into their bowls of soup, just like I did when I was a kid. This soup is a favorite, right after Corn Soup. This is down-home Cantonese soul food, da best.
Fuzzy Melon Soup
Ingredients
- 1 fuzzy melon Scraped and cut into slices, 1/4 inch thick
- 1 salted turnip Separate pieces, you will have a center chunk wrapped with a slice of root and leaves. Use 1 piece, either the slice, or leaves or the center chunk, rinse the piece you are going to use lightly with cold water to remove salt. Return remainder to bag for later use.
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms Soaked in hot water to soften (20 minutes)
- 8 cups water or 1:1 chicken stock:water or add 1 heaping T Better Than Boullion Chicken base to water.
- 1-2 slices fresh ginger Smash slices with the flat of a cleaver or knife to help release flavors
- 1 block tofu (1/2 carton tofu) soft, medium, or firm, diced to 1/2-3/4 inch cubes if using firm tofu.
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1 stalk green onion diced
- 2-3 springs cilantro garnish
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Marinade for Pork
- 3/4 cup ground pork
- 1 tsp rice wine
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt and a dash of white pepper
Instructions
- Combine marinade ingredients with ground pork. You can use chicken or turkey if you like. Let sit for 10-15 minutes
- Scrape fuzzy melon with a knife to remove fuzz and top layer of melon. Once scraped it should still be light green in color. You can use a peeler but it will take more of the squash than necessary and the pale green layer will be removed. It's NBD. Cut melon in half lengthwise and then cut each half lengthwise to create quarters. Cut each quarter crosswise into ~1/4 inch thick slices. Set aside.
- Heat 2 tsp of vegetable or peanut oil in a medium saucepan (3-4 qt). Add ginger and pork. Saute' until pork loses pinkness.
- Add water/stock, mushrooms, and turnip to saucepan. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a low boil for 15 minutes. You can add soy sauce at this point or before tasting for salt in the next step.
- Add squash to stock, bring back to a boil and immediately reduce heat again to a low boil. Cook until squash looks opaque rather than white and has softened but still retains its shape (about 10-15 minutes). Taste and season with salt if needed.
- Add tofu and heat through. Once soup is hot again, lower heat to a gentle simmer or turn it off. Stir soup with chopsticks or spoon in one direction, add egg in a slow steady stream to create egg ribbons in soup (like egg drop soup). Or crack the egg into soup and let it poach without breaking the egg up. My dad always let me have the egg, lol. Daddy's little girl.
- Garnish with green onions or cilantro, serve immediately.