The last time I wrote about this prickly gourd was in 2007! WHAaat?! So long?! Does that mean I have not used this gourd for almost 3 years!? YESSssss, as I really cannot remember when was the last time I used it for my cooking. As I have said..."Fairy God Mother's magic wand *bling* will not turn a hairy gourd into a golden carriage for Cinderalla" but YOU - the Hairy Gourd Mother (sorry, I said you are hairy) with your chopsticks (or wand) *bling bling* can always turn thy gourd from this:
to this:
Hairy gourd(毛瓜, Mao Gua) (you can read their other names here ) is sometimes known as the Little Winter Melon - 冬瓜 . I love them in soups, stir-fries and sometimes, steamed with meat stuffing. I do this steamed meat stuffing thing with bittergourd too and enjoy the dish very much. There goes this Hairy Gourd to Weekend Herb Blogging and this week, we have our host, Huan at Eat.Read.Live.
Steamed Hairy Gourd with Meat Stuffing - 毛瓜蒸肉馅
Ingredients: Hairy Gourd, peeled, cut into 3-cm chunks, remove seeds from the center of each chuck to create "hole" for meat stuffing; Minced Chicken/Pork; [Marinade]: salt, white pepper, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil; wolfberries for garnish
Directions: Prepare the hollowed gourd chucks on a plate. Marinate minced meat and spoon the minced meat into the hollowed chunks. You can allow about 20-30 mins marination time by leaving entire plate of prepared gourd chunks in the fridge. Set the wok or steamer for steaming. Steam for about 12 mins depending on how "thick" the meat stuffing is. (Note: You may have leftover minced meat - they can be used in Seaweed Soup or Watercress Soup).
Mom was asking what I cooked for Dad some time ago:
妈 : 煮什么?
我: 毛瓜, 南瓜, 丝瓜, 佛手瓜...
妈: 没有傻瓜啊 ?
我: 哈哈哈!
For my readers who do not read Mandarin - I was having a Mandarin conversation with Mom about the food I prepared for Dad. I spouted a list of gourds such as pumpkin, loofa, luffa, marrow squash, chayote - belonging to the gourd/squash family - gourd/squash , in Mandarin, is 瓜 (Gua).
She then said something which sets me laughing. She asked "how about 傻瓜 (Sha Gua)?"
傻瓜 (Sha Gua), in Mandarin, also ends with 瓜 (Gua) if you notice, and it means "A Fool" in English.
Tag: hairy gourd, gourd
The conversation between your mom and you is fun.
ReplyDeleteThe steamed stuffed gourd sounds quite light and delicious.
Hmm...I love it, sure will try it out!
ReplyDeletesounds so interesting and delicious!
ReplyDeleteI'm quite curious about this gourd, tigerfish. It's amazing how something so "hairy" can be transformed into such a delicacy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing...
I love to cook hairy gourd in soup and yours looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI laught at your conversation with your mom, and this dish look nice and yummy.
ReplyDeleteYummie, like the way you made gourd...I usually have in soup.
ReplyDeleteOh this looks yummy. I usually stuff meat in cucumbers or bitter melon, but this sounds good too.
ReplyDeleteThis is my mom's favorite. We don't make it though, we enjoy it in Chinese restaurants.
ReplyDeleteHappy WW!
This is a healthy and delicious dish. I heard that winter melon has cooling properties. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThis was interesting. Never heard about hairy gourds before! Looked good when it was finished.
ReplyDeleteI usually play Ruby Tuesday, but had nothing red on my post today.
Happy Wordlessness!
Anna
http://annasadornments.blogspot.com/2010/03/happy-birthday-barbie.html#links
the transformation is magical indeed :) haven't cooked with this gourd before but perhaps I should try it :)
ReplyDeleteI love the contrast of the two photos -- one all gnarly and scaring looking; the other so sleek and chic. I think you'd make anyone a hairy gourd fan with this post.
ReplyDeletemy mom used to make this and its nice. perhaps i shld give this a try too :p
ReplyDeleteHi!!! Thanks for the visit! I'm so glad to know U! U've got ur own cookbook? WOW, simply amazing! ;)
ReplyDeleteHahaha! So cute, your conversation. :) I like the magical transformation! Very nice!!
ReplyDeleteHaha your mom is cute!
ReplyDeleteYour mom is funny...haha. Your dish look very pretty and delicious. I have not eaten this vegetable yet. Hope to try one day. Maybe I should just visit you and you will cook for me, right?
ReplyDeleteThat title almost scared me off :) I'm glad I stuck through though, can't wait to try it out!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this stuff! And completely forgot all about it! Going to have to keep an eye open next time I go shopping :)
ReplyDeleteThis is like eating in the resto : ) I used to be able to find this melon in Basel but not recently any more : (
ReplyDeleteThis is so creative! I love the idea of making hairy gourd into a full meal with the addition of a meat stuffing. This is going on my to make list next week! Thanks for the great idea =)!
ReplyDeleteThat's a very interesting recipe, my only concern is to find where you can get all needed ingredients. I guess it would be easier for us, if you could provide us with some video lessons.
ReplyDelete