Winter Melon Stir Fry

5 from 6 votes

Winter Melon Stir Fry is a simple dish with tender melon slices! Get a mouthful of textures from the shrimp and noodles soaked in pork juices.

Prep Time40

Cook Time15

Total Time55

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine: Asian, Cantonese, Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 288kcal

1 kg / 2.2 lb winter melon (we get it from the Asian supermarket)
40 g / 0.09 lb green bean thread (or vermicelli; soaked for 10 minutes in cool water, then drained)
250 g / 0.55 lb pork mince
50 g / 0.11 lb rehydrated shrimp
3 sprig spring onion (cut into 3cm/1.2" pieces)
2 US cup water (or chicken stock)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 1/4 tbsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt (or to preference)
1 tsp sugar (or to preference)
1 1/3 tbsp chicken bouillon powder (1/3 tbsp for the mince marinade and 1 tbsp for the vegetables)
3/4 tbsp potato starch
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
4 tbsp cooking oil

Marinate the mince in the oyster sauce, salt, sugar, 3/4 tbsp chicken bouillon powder, sesame oil and potato starch. Set aside while you work on the other ingredients.
Peel the winter melon and cut it into thin strips, roughly 10cm (4") long and 0.75cm (0.3") wide. Leave them in a bowl for later.
Note: You won't have to remove the seeds because they're edible when cooked.
Heat up a wok or pan on high heat and pour in the cooking oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic in and cook for 30 seconds. Add the marinated mince and stir for 2 minutes or until 80% cooked.
Throw in the rehydrated shrimp and stir through for 20 seconds.
Add the winter melon in, season with 1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder and stir fry for 3 minutes. Pour in the water and simmer for another 5 minutes or until the fruit starts to become translucent.
Put the green bean thread in and toss through for 2 minutes.
Add the spring onions and stir them through for 20 seconds.
Serve immediately as is!

Divide the cooking into smaller portions. You don't want to overcrowd the wok, otherwise you'll end up boiling everything.
Don't cook the green bean thread for too long. The longer they cook, the more liquid they'll absorb. This expands the noodles and makes it lose its elasticity.
Save the shrimp water. You can substitute part of the stock or water with the liquid used to soak the dehydrated shrimp in. This will help to bring out more flavor.
Use a fattier mince. Doing so ensures each bite is juicy and seasoned with porky flavor.
We used pork mince for this recipe, but you can use whichever protein you like. Chicken mince or thighs are also great options.
You can get all the ingredients from Asian supermarkets.
If you want to make this dish vegetarian, swap out the oyster sauce for a substitute and use a vegetable stock powder instead of chicken bouillon.