Watermelon is a blessing for hot summer. Its red flesh is sweet, juicy, hydrating, and cold in nature, making it excellent to quench thirst and help us cool summer heat. More than often, we waste the white portion of a watermelon: the part between the dark skin and the red flesh. In some part of China, it is called the "watermelon frost 西瓜霜". According to TCM, watermelon rind: is sweet, bland in flavor is cold in nature enters Heart and Stomach meridian cools summer heat and quenches thirst calms agitation promotes urination and helps with dark urine and edema helps treat...
Winter melon is a staple at my family's dinner table. We are from Shanghai, where the summer climate is very hot and humid. My grandparents will cook winter melon often because it is able to clears summer heat, promote urination, and reduce phlegm. They add sliced winter melon to broths or braise them in soy sauce and scallion. The texture of winter melon is very unique. When it's raw, it is pretty firm and white; when it's cooked through, it becomes super tender and transparent! You can easily find them in Chinatown or Chinese grocers. Hope you enjoy cooking with...
