Shark’s fin melon is a popular ingredient (a type of squash) used in Chinese soups. It is so named because it breaks apart into slivers resembling shark’s fin as it cooks. Its name on Wikipedia is so scientific (“Cucurbita ficifolia”).. if you’re not from Asia, I wonder if you’ve heard of this melon?

The melon is said to decrease blood sugar and good for diabetics. It is commonly used in slow cooked soups but Kenneth has also put up a recipe on his blog.. for roasting! I have never even heard of roasting shark’s fin melon (whole!) and will have to try it some time.

Wan Chai, the Hong Kong cafe at IMM, does a good version of shark’s fin melon soup. Their soup usually comes free with the steamed rice dishes. Jason really loves it and has suggested on (wayyy) too many occasions that I cook it. Ok, since I had my slow cooker out that week, I decided to buy some shark’s fin melon and cook him this cooling soup.

The soup is really easy to prepare if you have a slow cooker. Ok, it’s really easy to cook even if you don’t have a slow cooker. You can cook it on the stove too. First bring to boil, turn down the fire and simmer for at least two hours. The taste is mild at first but as you simmer, the flavour of the melon, pork ribs, carrots and honey dates really come together. I chose not to add dried cuttlefish or red dates as I didn’t want to overpower this delicate soup. My entire family loves it.

Apart from soup, how else do you cook shark’s fin melon? Let me know by leaving a comment below!

The post Slow Cooker Shark’s Fin Melon Pork Rib Soup 鱼翅瓜排骨汤 appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

*Sorry for the lousy picture. It was taken at 8.30 pm, where there’s no sunlight!

Soup has got to one of the most fail-proof dishes. Really, there is only ONE true component to making tasty soup: time.

You can make a really sweet and savoury soup with just a few basic ingredients. If I’m trying to go meatless, the most basic soup would be ABC soup: corn, carrot, potato and onion. If I really want a rich, full bodied soup, I add pork ribs and honey dates, and boil for at least 2.5 hours over the stove top. You could also cook the soup in your slow cooker for 7 hours.

I used to switch my slow cooker to ‘auto-shift’ at 7.30 in the morning and come home 10 hours later to dinner. I don’t do it now because my 3.2 litre Takahi slow cooker makes hardly enough soup for my family of four, or sometimes six, if Cara and Slimer decide to pop over. ‘3.2 litre’ doesn’t mean it can take 3.2 litres of water hor, it means it has a capacity of 3.2 litres.. you have to factor in the pork ribs, the huge carrot, the corn, the onion, the honey dates… then you’re left with soup for two people.

I cooked this cabbage, pork rib and apple soup over the stove top the other night. I was home early from work and the husband had to work late so I had close to three hours to cook it. Ok technically he didn’t ‘have to’ work late but he always does because he likes to make sure everything is done meticulously. There was this one time that my ex-team mate (who was on night shift) had to whatsapp me at 11 pm saying, “Chris can you get your husband out of the office?” All I can say is, sometimes it works, most times it doesn’t.

Oh if you didn’t know, I met my husband at work but I quit almost two years ago, so we know the same people.

Anyway, I digress. This soup is incredibly easy to make. You don’t have to add the cabbage but I wanted an all-in-one dish that night. All you need: two large fuji apple, a carrot, honey dates, pork ribs, cabbage (optional) and onions. Be sure to simmer the soup gently instead of having it on a rolling boil throughout for the pork ribs to be tender, not tough. The version with snow pear at 老火汤 is said to have cooling properties, nourish the throat, and ‘enhance overall beauty’. Ok so want to be pretty, drink more soup!

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