Oriental Acid Melon

Oriental Acid Melon

　　Orienta

　　The method of making Eastern sour melon—back then, the ingredients used to make sour melon seemed different from those used today, mostly the seedless yellow-fleshed watermelon rind. First, the excess "innards" inside the watermelon were scooped out, then the rind was sliced into small pieces, which were placed in a basket, mixed with an appropriate amount of salt, stirred, and left to rest for a certain period. After that, the excess water was squeezed out by hand (sometimes by foot, though the feet were always thoroughly washed), and then the mixture was transferred to another sealed jar for pickling. This pickling process took quite a while—it had to sit for more than three days before it was ready to eat.

　　Nowadays, sour melon is typically made from young, tender-skinned small watermelons. The flesh of these melons is soft and mealy, easy on the teeth, and doesn’t require much chewing, though it also means fewer opportunities to engage your teeth.

　　The so-called “sour melon” is primarily characterized by its sour taste. Having a bowl of sour melon soup with a meal in the summer is quite refreshing, clean in flavor, and deliciously tasty. This dish seems to better suit the local palate. Sour melon is essentially the juvenile form of the yellow-fleshed watermelon—the raw flesh can be eaten, but it’s not as sweet as the red-fleshed watermelon, and when it matures, it’s often cut up to be used as a ladle. Sour melon shouldn’t be cooked too long—if overcooked and turned mushy, it loses its original sweet-and-sour flavor. If simmered with dried bamboo shoots or similar ingredients, the taste becomes even more unique. Although there are also braised versions of sour melon, they seem to lack a bit of that fresh taste. But if you cook the sour melon until it’s about 70% done, mix in some flour and sugar, then fry it in oil, after about ten minutes when the melon turns pale, you can take it out to eat. That cool, subtle floral scent will linger on the tongue for a long time, refusing to fade.

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