This was what I said to the vegetable seller I buy all my greens from, an "uncle" who is probably in his sixties. "Uncle" is in parenthesis, because he is not related to me in anyway. But he is an "uncle", because this is the way we address any male person who are older than you are (and is already slogging away in the workforce; for a person still studying and is older is called the "gor-gor", which is the Hokkien or Teochew dialect for elder brother), out of affection and respect, as some might explain it. There is nothing derogatory in this address. In fact, it is rather habitual. On the other hand, I should say, it is for the lack of a better term to address this older or elderly person, be it man or woman (the version to address a woman is "Auntie") and avoid being disrespectful. Anyway, the usage and cultural aspects behind "uncle" or "auntie" used in Singapore is not what I wish to share here. This vegetable seller "uncle", by the way, has been selling vegetables at the same spot, to my mother and now to me, for almost 30 years.
What I want to share is how I came to make this shark's fin melon soup. It is a simple story, resulting from my simple yet desperate utterance. Basically, after making dinner almost everyday for about 2.5 years after I quit my job, is sort of taking its toll. I have run out of ideas for soup, even though there are many recipes vying for my attention. I stood staring at all the beautiful and fresh vegetables at "Uncle's" store, and contemplated for a while on the day I do my grocery shopping. I can normally decide on what to cook and buy quite instantly as I have a habit of planning my weekly menu. But this week, try as I might, there is little desire to attempt new dishes or even simply recreate familiar recipes that I had tried before. I announced my problem to "uncle". Immediately, he suggested Chinese spinach with fish balls soup. But I will be making it the following day. Just as "uncle" was racking his brain to come up with another soup for me, I caught sight of an interesting looking melon in front of me. It has white, almost translucent firm flesh and a skin that looks a little like a watermelon. Raising it up, I asked "uncle" what that was.
"Shark's fin melon. Boil it until the flesh separate into strips, like shark's fin. That's why it's called shark's fin melon. Add some enoki mushrooms and some strips of ham. The kids will love it." Those were "uncle's" advice. To me, it is a cheaper and more humane alternative to a much debated Chinese delicacy. More importantly, it is something new to add on to my list of soups. I bought that melon; I think it must have weighed about 800g, and two packets of enoki mushrooms. I swap ham for bacon. I could imagine the smokiness and saltiness fried bacon will contribute to the chicken stock I happen to have in the fridge at home. This was going to be some lip-smacking savory soup.
"Uncle" had suggested another method of preparing the shark's fin melon. He said to steam the melon, scrap off and discard the seeds, then scrap the strings of flesh into some stock. Boil the melon in the stock until it becomes a thick soup and the melon stringy, add enoki mushrooms and ham. He didn't tell me for how long I should steam the melon. And so, armed with these descriptions, I started creating and cooking my version of shark's fin melon soup in my head as I drove home with my purchases.
(Recreated and improvised based on my Vegetable seller "uncle's" description)
Ingredients
about 600-800g Shark's fin melon
2 packets of enoki mushrooms
3 pieces of streaky bacon
800ml chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp vegetable oil (can be reduced depending on the amount of bacon fats)
Method
1. Cut the shark's fin melon (with skin on and soft spongy portion that holds the seed together still intact) into rather large chunks, measuring about 5cm by 8cm.
2. Steam the melon for about 15-20 mins. The melon would still retain some raw crunchiness but certain portions would feel juicy and a little soft. Set aside to cool.
3. Once the melon is adequately cooled, scrap off the seeds (the spongy portion will come off together) and discard. Scrap the softened flesh off the skin. It is okay if portions of the flesh comes off in strings, this is how it should look like, strings of melon flesh looking like shark's fin. Set the flesh aside and discard the skin.
5. Cut streaky bacon into thin strips, trim off fatty portions if necessary.
6. In a soup pot, heat about 1 tbsp of oil and fry the strips of bacon till slightly browned.
7. Add melon flesh and fry for about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil.
8. Once the liquid comes to a boil, bring the flame to medium-low and simmer till melon flesh soften further and disintegrate further into strings.
9. Add enoki mushrooms, continue to simmer for about 2 minutes. Before turning off the heat, add salt and pepper to taste.
I love the taste of this soup. The melon has a sweet scent, reminding me of winter melon. The smokiness and saltiness of the streaky bacon actually complements the sweet melon very well, balancing both the salty and sweet. A dash of pepper worked its magic, bringing this simple soup to the level of a hearty chicken soup on a cold winter's day.
Notes:
- A note about steaming the melon. When I made this soup, I steamed the melon for 15 minutes. The melon was still rather firm, though the flesh near to the spongy core has softened quite nicely to be scrapped off quite easily. I suppose the melon can be steamed further until completely softened, but I don't know if the flesh would be easily manageable if it is too softly steamed.
- After simmering the rather firm melon flesh in the chicken stock for about 15 minutes, I find that certain portions of flesh (those parts nearer to the skin) still maintain it's chunky shape. I had to scoop those out and mash it down lightly with a fork. These actually fall apart into strings quite easily after being squashed with the fork.
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