Life in China: A Picture A Day, April 1, 2016 -This squash never really looked much different from the regular zucchini squash I buy so I’ve tended to just ignore it. Leah finally decided we should try it. As with so many other vegetables, it has many names! In English, it can be called calabash gourd (with a rounded bottom) or bottle gourd (long and slender like the picture), in Chinese it is pu guo 蒲瓜 (pronounced poo gwa), and in other Asian countries it can be lauki, doodhi, or opo squash. They are all the same other than shape; It has smooth light green skin and white spongy flesh with seeds. I read both to take the seeds out or to leave them, so we left them in and they weren’t even noticeable. It has a very mild taste, but is supposedly packed with health benefits; It has a very high water content and is good for digestion, urinary health (acts as a diuretic), eases constipation, weight loss (especially when juiced), high blood pressure and heart health! Taste a small piece before using and if it is bitter you shouldn’t eat it. We peeled and cubed ours, then tried it two different ways. We made a soup with the bottle gourd, carrot, onion and sweet potato, boiled them in water, then pureed the mixture and added coconut milk and seasoning (It looked like pumpkin soup!)…. turned out delicious! The other half we just stir fried with some beef strips, garlic and onion. I liked it in the soup best, but the stir-fry was also good. They are harvested young for eating, if left to mature, then they are dried and the shell hardens making them just right for bottles and musical instruments. I’m curious if those of you outside of Asia can buy these?
Life in China: A Picture A Day, March 24, 2016
One thing I will definitely miss when we leave China is fresh water chestnuts, called 马蹄 mǎtí, literally translated as “horse’s hoof”! There is absolutely NO comparison between fresh ones and the canned ones you get in the USA. The fresh ones are one of my favorite snacks. I prefer to buy them unpeeled and peel them when I’m ready to eat them, although you can peel them ahead and keep refrigerated in water for a couple days. They have a nice crispy, crunchy texture and a delicious sweet taste. I also like to cook with them: Chop them and add to stir-fries, make water chestnut cake (a popular Chinese dim sum dish, my version is pictured), or bacon wrapped water chestnuts with bbq sauce for a western style treat. For the water chestnut cake, you use a powder made from dried, crushed water chestnuts. They are also made into a juice. The best places to buy them here are the Chinese fresh markets or from street vendors on the Chinese shopping streets, and you can also usually find them in supermarkets.
