Authentic Chinese Winter Melon Soup Recipe

Winter melon is one of my favorite Fall vegetables and winter melon soup in my opinion is the best soup to cook during the cold weather. This soup uses pork meatballs to create a meaty base flavor. Then winter melon is added and cooked to soft and translucent, releasing the beautiful refreshing flavors to the soup. The result? A heartwarming soup full of goodness of the Fall.

For this recipe, I used ginger and Sichuan peppercorn as aromatics. Ginger helps balance the flavors of pork. Sichuan peppercorn is optional but it gives the soup extra flavors. As long as you don’t bite into them, the soup won’t taste numbing. If you are worried about accidentally biting into the Sichuan peppercorns, consider removing them after cooking them in oil.

How do you eat Chinese winter melon?

Chinese winter melon is also called ash gourd or wax gourd. It has a hard skin covered with wax which helps preserve the vegetable and extend its shelf life months into the Winter. Winter melon can grow as large as 20-30 lbs. Grocery stores usually sell winter melon in smaller slices. Once cut into slices, store winter melon in the fridge for up to 1 week. When preparing a winter melon, slice off the hard skin with a large knife. Remove the foamy inside where the seeds are. Chop the white flesh into chunks or slices for cooking.

How to make meatballs?

Meatballs are a commonly cooked meat dish in our family, mostly in soups! They are so good for an array of leafy vegetables, such as spinach, napa cabbage (recipe here!) and pea tips. To make meatballs, we need to season the ground pork with egg, corn starch, salt and ginger. Usually egg will add enough moisture to the mixture but in cases when the mixture isn’t moist/soft enough, we add a little water to it. Mix up the mixture for a solid 3-5 minutes, the texture should be sticky and you can easily form meatballs at this stage.

My mom often simply uses the spoon to make meatballs. The method is very simple. Push ground pork into one side of your container, cut off a small portion of the meat and press it against the wall of your bowl with the spoon. Repeat it for a few times, a meatball should be formed and ready to be added to the soup.

After adding the meatballs, the soup boils for the first time. Some foam will form on top of the soup. Take it out with a spoon or strainer. Then add winter melon to the soup.

Bring to a boil and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Add goji berries. Season with salt and sesame oil. Serve with freshly chopped green onion.

Ingredients:

1 lb Winter Melon

1 lb ground pork

Pork seasoning:

1 egg

1.5 tbsp corn starch (https://amzn.to/3QOK3fB)

1/4 tsp salt

1 piece ginger (grind up or minced)

Soup seasoning:

1 tsp olive oil

1 large piece ginger

1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn (optional) (https://amzn.to/3SOg4a9)

1 tbsp Goji berry

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sesame oil (https://amzn.to/3R712v2)

Garnish green onion

Watch full video tutorial:

Chinese Winter Melon Soup

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 2 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb Winter melon
• 1 lb ground pork
• 5 cup water

Pork seasoning

• 1 egg
• 1.5 tbsp Corn starch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 piece ginger grind up or minced

Soup seasoning

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 piece ginger
• 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn
• 1 tbsp Goji berry
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• green onion

Equipment

• 1 pot

Method

 

1. Trim off the inner part of the flesh with seeds. Slice off the tough outer skin of winter melon. Then slice into strips and chop into 1 inch pieces. 
2. Crack 1 egg into ground pork. Season with a quarter tsp salt. 1.5 tbsp corn starch. Grind up some ginger and add to the mix
3. Mix ground pork until the consistency becomes slightly sticky. Add water (1 tbsp at a time) if the texture seems too dry
4. Take out about 1 tbsp of goji berries and Sichuan peppercorn.  Soak goji berries in water. Slice 1 piece of ginger.
5. In a large pot on medium low heat, add olive oil. Drop in Sichuan peppercorn and ginger. Roast until aromatic.
6. Add water and bring to boil.
7. Use a spoon to form meatballs and add to the soup.
8. Bring the soup to boil and use a strainer to remove foam on top
9. Add winter melon
10. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
11. Season with salt. Add goji berries and sesame oil.
12. Serve with freshly chopped green onions.