SHARK FIN MELON SOUP WITH CARROT AND PORK BONES

Note: NO sharks were harmed in the making of this soup! 👅

Nothing beats a warm bowl of light and healthy soup on a rainy night :D

Shark fin melon is a type of squash and it's a popular ingredient used in Chinese soups. As you may have guessed, this melon is called shark fin melon because its flesh breaks apart into slivers resembling shark’s fin when cooked. According to Wikipedia, it is said that eating this melon can help people with diabetes, due to its high D-Chiro-Inositol content.

This is how the shark fin melon looks like. The skin looks a little like watermelon .

The whole melon is huge, so we normally buy a 1/4 of it, or 1/2 if it's a slightly smaller one. Some say the seeds are soft and edible after cooking but I prefer to remove them. The taste of the soup may be mild at first but as you simmer, the flavor of the melon, dried scallops, carrot, honey dates and pork bones really do come together, creating a sweet yet savory taste. My LO loves it. She kept asking for the strands of 'noodles'!

Ingredients:

1/4 shark fin melon (Approx 700g), peeled, seeds removed and cut into chunks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into pieces
2 honey dates
2 tbsp goji berries, soaked til puffy
2-3 dried scallops, soaked
Approx 300g pork bones
1500ml water

Blanch pork bones in boiling water for 5 minutes. Rinse and set aside.
Rinse and put all ingredients, except goji berries, into a pot together with the water. Bring to a boil. Turn to low heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add the soaked goji berries at the last 15 minutes of cooking. Serve.

Comments

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