Post #132

last week, mum gave me a home grown chi qua (aka hairy melon) that she scored from her friend, who i imagine must have a mega size garden patch in their backyard. so far, we've already been rationed with diff types of veg including heirloom tomatoes, bok choy, cucumber etc!! the ration was sometimes enough to feed the extra 2 mouths who have moved out of the home (i.e. moi and hubby)! this chi qua was beautifully fresh and hairy *beautiful and hairy... hm...* but you know what i mean! apparently the hair-ier they are, the younger and fresher the melon!! and they dont like cold temperature, so best store them in a cool place but not the fridge.

this morning on the train platform, i was thinking, maybe i can use the melon to make an asian risotto. it would just be like a congee soup but cooked in the risotto way. later in the day, i casually ran this by sis and received a half-shocked/half-hesitant response...

and it looked liked this:


-Bacon, hairy melon + mushroom risotto-

I kept it pretty asian, apart from the bacon and the white wine (which on reflection i probably shouldnt have added, as it gives a bit of a sour flavour). so i added onion, hairy melon dices, button mushrooms, chinese mushrooms and wood ear. cooked with the chicken/abalone stock (made by mum!!!)

it was nice! actually tasted fairly asian, and as expected, almost like a congee soup but the rice has more of a bite to it. the hairy melons are like tiny bursts of subtle sweetness. i guess it should work with other melons like winter melon and choke too!