Steamed Eight-Treasure Winter Melon Soup

It is fitting that we conclude this culinary tour of China with a banquet preparation, one that recurs in many parts of the country on many festive occasions. A whole winter melon is used. It is the pot in which an eight-treasure soup is cooked and from which it is served, and its presentation almost always produces joyful awe. The soup‛s provenance is not known. It seems to exist everywhere. There is a version of this dish in Changsha and in Suzhou, in Shanghai and in Guangzhou, in Hangzho