What's up everyone?
Today we're making “hói sīn dūng gwā gāng”
Winter Melon Seafood Soup
My name is Randy
And I'm a second generation Chinese American
My dad's been a Chinese chef for over 50 years
And it's my mission to share and preserve
My parents' recipes and stories
One meal at a time
Growing up in China
My parents didn't have much
But what they did have
Was lots and lots of winter melon
And a bunch of stories to go with it
Today you'll get to learn all of their secrets
For making this unique style of Winter Melon Soup
Hi friends
Today we'll be showing you our
Winter Melon Seafood Soup
It's very simple
Just winter melon, some seafood, fish, shrimp
Imitation crab, yellow chives, and egg whites
That's all, not very complicated
If you're looking for a written version of this recipe
Check out our blog post at madewithlau.com
Where you'll find an adjustable list of ingredients
And step-by-step videos to guide you
As you make the recipe at home
First of all,
This will serve about 4-6 people
We only need about 1.5 lbs of winter melon
This winter melon weighs around 7 lb
I just need 1.5 lb, so let's cut it up
Why do you put a bag at the bottom?
To keep the cutting board from getting dirty
Okay, this is a little heavier than 1.5 lb
It's okay, once we remove the seeds it should be about right
We're not using the middle of the melon?
No, we don't need it. Let's peel the skin first
We peeled the skin off winter melon
Next, we'll wash the winter melon
Make sure all the seeds are removed
Next, we’ll dice the winter melon
A few Patreon members and a bunch of other people asked
If you're at a store
How do you pick the best melon?
Pick those that are old, with less seeds in the middle
They’re usually already cut into pieces
If you see that the flesh is white, it's better
I also wanted to make a special shoutout to thank all of our
Wonderful Patreon supporters to help bring this video to life.
If you enjoy our videos and are interested in supporting us directly,
Head on over to patreon.com/madewithlau to learn more!
Now, the winter melon has been cut up
Then we use 3 oz of shrimp
These shrimp have already been cleaned - no innards or shells
This next step is easy
Just slice the shrimp
If people don't like seafood
Could they put a different type of meat?
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Chicken, cut into tiny pieces
Then, that will be Winter Melon Chicken Soup
♪Laughs♪
If you're vegetarian, are there other veggies
That will be good in there?
Mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms
Yeah, mushrooms
And also Chinese chives, tofu
For the fish, I'll use 3 oz
This fish is 1/2 lb
This is the same fish we bought at Costco before
You did a video about it before
We'll also be using a few strips of imitation crab
Cut into small pieces
If you wanted to get really fancy
You can also use real crab meat
Then, we'll cut about 1 oz of yellow chives
Which are more tender, sweet, and lighter in taste
Than the more commonly known green chives
If you can't get yellow chives
Green chives work fine as well
Well, the ingredients are basically cut up
Now just marinate the fish and shrimp with some cornstarch
This way the meat will be more tender and soft
To each bowl, we'll marinate our fish and shrimp by adding
1 tsp cornstarch, 0.5 tbsp water, and a dash of white pepper
Mix each bowl around for a few seconds
How long do you marinate the meat?
Not long, just a few minutes is fine
We're done, we'll put the meat in after the pot boils
Okay, all set!
At this point, in a pot, we'll also start boiling 4 cups of water
And about 7 oz of chicken broth
Which is about half the can my dad is using
Cover the pot, and set the stove to high heat
While we wait, we'll prepare 3 egg whites
And our cornstarch slurry
With 5 tbsp of cornstarch and 4 tbsp of water
To separate the egg white from the yolk
My dad cracks the eggs, opens them from the top
And then carefully pours the yolk
Into the other side of the egg shell
This will separate the whites from the yolks, see?
That's it, it's easy
See? Watch closely
Break it open first
Pour the egg yolk into one side
Wow!
The egg white then falls into the bowl
Then put the egg yolk into another bowl
See? It's easy, right?
It's quick, just wait for the water to boil
Before adding the ingredients
Right now, we'll stir the fish again
Good, it's almost boiling
Pour the winter melon into the pot
Once we add everything, it'll be a really full pot
Adding the winter melon and seafood is already a lot
It's fast - once it’s boiling, it’s ready
We'll let the winter melon cook for about 5 to 7 minutes.
While we wait
I thought I'd speak on the many health benefits
Of eating winter melon
Also formally known as wax or ash gourd (benincasa hispida)
Winter melon is a magical fruit that my parents tell me to eat
Whenever I've come home with too many zits on my face
And it's also been used in traditional Chinese and
Ayurvedic medicine for centuries
In Ayurveda, it's believed to be a great source of prana
Or life energy
And in Traditional Chinese Medicine
Dūng gwā is believed to help flush the body of toxins
And to bring balance to an excess of yiht hei (热气), or internal heat
One of the key concepts
In Traditional Chinese Philosophy and Medicine
Is a harmony between Yin and Yang
Or yām yèuhng (阴阳) in Cantonese
On one hand, yin or yām 阴, represents
A cooling energy, femininity, and the moon among many other things
On the other hand, Yang or yèuhng 阳
Represents heat, masculinity, and the sun
Winter melon is believed to help restore a balance of Yin energy
In recent years
Modern research has started to validate some of these beliefs
Winter melon is high in antioxidants
And studies show that eating it
May help prevent ulcers and reduce inflammation
Which is believed to be the root cause of many diseases
Now we have to whip the egg whites
Add half a teaspoon of water first
This way, the egg whites will separate and flower more easily
Whip the egg whites with force and speed
Okay, it's ready and the water is boiling
Now we'll thicken the soup
Because seafood cooks more easily
You don't need to pour it into the pot too early
We'll thicken the soup
Pour slowly?
We have to go slowly, it'll become a lump if we pour too fast
This way it'll dissolve more easily in the water
Quickly stir the bottom of the pot like this
If you don't stir it
And pour it all into the pot at once
It'll become a lump and won't break apart
Now add in the seafood
Fish
Shrimp
This soup is tasty, son
It'll be delicious!
Finally, add the imitation crab
These are already cooked
So they won't be undercooked even if we add them last
Okay, all the ingredients are added to the pot
It's a big portion, isn't it?
It's a lot after adding all of the ingredients
We'll stir the seafood around and cover the pot
Let it cook for another 2-3 minutes until it's boiling again
To have beautiful wispy eggs, we'll need to first bring it to a boil
If the pot is not boiling, the eggs will just sink to the bottom
Look, it's boiling
We have to keep stirring the pot while pouring the egg whites
Slowly pour in the eggs over the course of 20-30 seconds
Constantly stirring to help the eggs flower
Into soft whisks and strands
Wow! It's so beautiful
Next, we'll add more flavor to the soup with 1-2 tsp salt
My dad says you can add whatever amount you like
We'll also add some white pepper to taste
As well as 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp sesame oil
Sesame oil - very important. It’ll make the soup more fragrant
1 teaspoon
You can't wait to eat this, huh?
How about we try a taste?
Tasty
Well, the soup is ready
Let me scoop the soup into a large bowl
Pour it in, see?
Ok, done
Sprinkle some yellow chives on top
Great, tell them to come and eat
Winter melon seafood soup is done and ready to be served!
Let me make the chow mein first
Look at how cute and handsome you are
You like that?
That's how the restaurants do it
Swirl!
Ooh that's a good one
♪Laughs♪
- Smells so good - Come on!
Ok, let's eat
Cheers, let's eat!
Is it good? - How is the taste, son?
Really good!
Kat, good?
Yup
Cantonese people make good soup
♪Laughs♪
Yeah
And Cantonese people always have soup on the table
Even when we eat out, we'll always ask
What soup should we order?
Besides veggie and meat dishes, we also want soup
So Cantonese people drink a lot of soup
And we're also good at making soups
What was your first memory with this dish?
Oh!
♪Laughs♪
For me, winter melon reminds me of my grandma
Automatically, my grandma comes to mind
When I was around 11-12 years old
There was a revolution happening in China at that time
So we didn't attend school for 3 years
Oh really?
Yeah, no school
No school!?
What did you do?
Just stayed at home
And I spent a lot of time in Toisan village with my grandma
Underneath my grandma’s bed - it was filled with winter melon
So I ate winter melon every day
But she didn't have meat, or many ingredients to cook with it
Just winter melon with some dried shrimp
Or sometimes scallion, pickled vegetables
She just cooked all of them in a pot
It tasted very good!
♪Laughs♪
I can just remember my grandma
Cooked winter melon soup every day
Then, I'd mix the soup with rice
No meat, just eat like that
You know the best way to eat it? With red bean!
Red bean with winter melon soup is the most common dish
There's also salted fish head with winter melon
We've been eating winter melon since we were young
You think our soups had this many ingredients?
Let me tell you, son
We ate a lot of winter melon as a child!
It's because winter melon is really cheap
Winter melon is the cheapest!
When there is nothing else to eat, you eat winter melon
Where were all the winter melons stored?
In our old village, we stored them in the deck above the worship table
Upstairs, we'd set the winter melons there
We placed our winter melons there
They’d last for a long time, even for a few months
So you never got sick of winter melon
Even after you had that for 3 years?
No
Wow, it's that good!
I love winter melon
It can be cooked in soups, stir fries, and more
I like all of them
Stewed winter melon can be cooked with/without meat
Cooked together with dried mushrooms
For soup, just winter melon and dried shrimp is nice too
That's your favorite
One of the easiest ways to prepare It's to
Cut the winter melon into pieces and
Boil the dried shrimp together with the winter melon
The dried shrimp will make the soup taste better
This is one of the quickest way to prepare a winter melon soup
Winter melon is not…
Oops! Uh oh!
Got it!
Baby, mom reflexes
♪Laughs♪
Yours weighed 13 lb, 7 lb
Usually how big are they in the market?
Some big, some small
Okay
Yeah
Always pick the old winter melon, the skin should be white
Usually, when you buy them, are they already cut into slices?
Yeah yeah
No one buys an entire winter melon, it's too much
You can use your nail to test
If it's easy to poke it into the skin of winter melon
Then it's too young
And also the center will be more hollow
Okay, seeds?
It's easier to explain if he shows a winter melon
How can I say that in…
Mamama…
This winter melon is old, its center is not solid
Solid means no gap, not hollow
No empty space
For young ones
The flesh is very close together, no gaps in between
But for old ones, there will be spaces in between
This one already has a gap
Having a gap means that it's old?
Yes, you're right
It's best to buy slices closest the stem
The ones sold at the supermarket are usually sliced up
So choose the slices closest to the stem
Its flesh will be thicker
Wow! Dang, that's a good one!
Because in the store, they will cut a whole winter melon
Into 4, 6 pieces, right?
So we always pick the one with the stem
For me, I’ll look to make sure this area is somewhat rough
Rough?
Yeah, rough
If the stem is smooth and green in color
Then I won't pick that piece
I'd rather pick a rough one
Rough ones will be older
Why is there a white outer layer？
Older ones will be white
Because it's old
Oh, if it's young, it won't have that?
If they're young, they're green
Do you know the meaning behind the word "winter melon"?
"dūng" means winter
Since the winter melon is white - just like snow
That's why they call it winter melon
Cool! I didn't know that
As you can see
I will wait for the winter melon to turn white
Before picking it
The winter melon that your dad planted
Can be harvested starting in September
But we won't harvest it that soon
We'll wait for it to grow older, until it's grown white
It's like a little fuzzy and white
Like Vanna White!
Put it here
This winter melon is 13.5 lb
See, it's hairy on the surface
That's the reason why I use
A paper to hold it
Will it be thorny if I don't use a paper when holding it?
No, it won't be a problem
It's not as thorny as a rose
Roses can hurt us
Winter melon won't hurt but it'll make us uncomfortable
Do you wear gloves when you plant winter melon?
It's not necessary
Do the hairs only start growing at a later stage?
They start to grow when the plants first bear fruit
It grows hairs to keep the mice from eating it
Oh
♪Laughs♪
What?
To prevent mice from eating it
So there was hair when you bought it?
Some winter melons have them, some don't
But the type that we grew has hair
♪Laughs♪
You can just wipe it with a wet paper towel
From top to bottom
How do you store it?
A lot of people asked, "How do you store it?"
If you cut it, then it's best to keep it in fridge
If not, just store it in a cool place
It can last for a few months
Right, Daddy?
Yeah, I keep it for a few months
We’ve been saving this winter melon since September
You guys kept them in the garage, right?
If we bought one and cut it
Will it last as long?
You should be able to keep for a week
A lot of other people asked
How do you cook it perfectly so it doesn't boil away?
Or break apart
Don't cook it for too long
Only put in the winter melon once the water starts boiling
It's done when the pot is boiling again
Some soups are made with large pieces of winter melon
We need to cook that for longer
Winter melon doesn't need to be cooked for too long
But you need to cook the other ingredients until they're soft
The winter melon itself only needs half an hour to be ready
Those winter melons are cooked with the skin on
We keep the skin on for that
And let me explain something
Today, this is called gāng, dūng gwā gāng
The soup that's boiled with skin-on is called dūng gwā tōng
In English, there’s no difference
The difference is that
tōng 汤 is thinner and gāng 羹 is thicker
So for “tōng 汤” we don’t add cornstarch?
Yes, it's not added
Cornstarch is not needed for those kinds of soup
Which one do you guys like better?
I like them both
They are both different
Which one did you have more when you were a kid?
Back then, we only had thin winter melon soup “冬瓜汤”
We never had thick winter melon soup ”冬瓜羹“
I had a lot of thin winter melon soup
Oh yeah, thick soup requires eggs (which were scarce)
It needs a lot of ingredients, they're not the same
Thick soup cooks faster than thin soup
The water content of thick soup “羹” is less than thin soup "汤"
Whoa!
Hello, all of our dear friends and audience!
Thanks again for enjoying this video with us!