It’s exterior looks like a large kiwi, with the fine hairs, but the interior comes as a cross between winter melons and zucchini.  To me, at least.  LOL.

It must be peeled before cooking and has a mild taste.  We usually cook it as a stir-fry dish or soup.  This recipe below is quite simple to follow and is a good variation to the usual broccoli, bok choy and cabbage stir-fry.

Ingredients (Serves 3 adults):

• Half a medium-sized hairy melon (or a small one)
• Half a small carrot
• 6-8 medium prawns, deshelled and deveined
• 1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash of ground pepper
• 1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

Step 1:  Slice prawns into halves sideways.  Peel hairy melon and carrot.  Cut into strips about 2-inch long and set aside.  There are seeds inside which can be eaten, but if you do not like it, you can remove the seeds when cutting.

Step 2:  Heat up a wok or pan with cooking oil.  Add in the chopped garlic.

Step 3:  When garlic starts to brown, add in carrot strips (because carrots take longer to cook).  Stir fry for 1 minute.  Add in the prawns and hairy melon strips.  Stir-fry till carrot and hairy melon strips are soft.

Step 4:  Add sugar and salt for seasoning.  Stir-fry for another 1 minute.

Step 5:  Pour the beaten egg evenly on the vegetables and stir-fry to blend well.  Add a dash of ground pepper.  Stir-fry a few more times.  It’s ready to serve!

Because hairy melon is mild flavoured, it takes on the sweetness of the prawns and aroma of the egg very well.  I think children will enjoy it too.

As usual, I will keep a portion in my thermos food jar right after cooking to keep it warm as long as possible.  Hmm.  Does it look appetizing to you?

When I cook the soup version (which is quite similar) on another day, I will also post the recipe here to share.  Do stay around!

This is a very simple tofu dish you can try.

Ingredients (Serves 4 adults):

• 100 – 120 g of minced pork
• 250 -300 g soft/ silken tofu, cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 small carrot, diced into small cubes
• 1 stalk scallion (spring onion), washed and chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup corn starch mixture (2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1/3 cup water)
• 3 teaspoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• Ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon hua tiao chiew (chinese cooking wine)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Marinate minced meat with 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce and a dash of pepper.  Mix well and leave it aside for about 30 minutes.

Step 2:  Heat up the cooking oil in the fry pan or wok.  Add minced garlic when oil is hot.

Step 3:  When garlic starts to brown, add in the minced meat.  Stir fry till it is cooked.  Add in the diced carrots and scallions.  Stir fry for another 30 seconds.

Step 4:  Add oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce, hua tiao chiew and a dash of pepper.  Stir fry again to mix well.

Step 5:  Add in water and cover the fry pan with a lid.  Allow the stew to cook for 1-2 minutes.

Step 6:  Remove the lid and add in the silken tofu cubes.  Ladle some sauce mixture over the tofu cubes and cover the fry pan again for another minute to cook the tofu.

Step 7:  Finally, add the corn starch mixture slowly into the stew, stirring it carefully to keep the soft tofu cubes intact.

Does this look really easy?

I only took about 10 minutes to prepare the ingredients and 10 minutes to cook this dish.  In fact, if you are rushing for time in the morning before going to work, you can prepare the ingredients in advance.  Marinate the minced meat, chop the scallions and carrots the night before.  The next day, just take them out and cook!

Aren’t the colors beautiful?

For an even easier variation of this recipe, you can replace the carrots and scallions with half a cup of frozen peas/carrot/corn mix.

This dish is best served piping hot, so if you are bringing it to work, ladle them into a thermos food jar immediately to keep it warm.

For me, this tofu combo makes a simple all-in-one meal as well as it has meat, vegetables and tofu.  All I need is just a bowl of steamed rice to go along with it.  YUM…

Enjoy!