Steamed Whole Wintermelon Soup

Name: Steamed Whole Wintermelon Soup (Boh Doh Dong Gua Jung)
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: ⅓ cup gingko nuts (see note); 5½ cups vegetable broth; ½ cup green peas, fresh or frozen; ½ cup bamboo shoots: cut into ½-inch dice; ½ cup carrots: peel, wash, cut into ½-inch dice; ⅓ cup water chestnuts: peel, wash, dry, cut into ½-inch dice; ½ cup dried Chinese black mushrooms: soak until softened, wash, discard stems, cut caps into ½-inch dice; ½ cup straw mushrooms: cut into quarters; ⅓ cup fresh mushrooms: brush clean, discard stems, cut into ½-inch dice; ½ cup peanuts; 1½ teaspoons minced ginger; 1 teaspoon minced garlic; 2 tablespoons scallion oil; 3 cups water; 1 wintermelon, 10 pounds

Boh Doh Dong Gua Jung

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Chinese Banquet Cookbook

By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Published 1985

About

What makes this such an unusual preparation is that the melon itself becomes the cooking pot and the serving tureen for the soup that is brewed in it. No feast in either a Buddhist or a Taoist temple would be complete without this soup.

Ingredients

3 cups water
½ cup peanuts
1 wintermelon

Asia
China
Gluten-free
Winter
Vegan
Soup

Method

In a pot bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add peanuts and simmer for 1 hour. Drain and set aside.
Place the wintermelon in its cook pot, for measurement purposes only, in this manner: Put a cake rack on the bottom of the pot; place melon on it. You will need a v