Gourds and Summer Squashes

The wax gourd Benincasa hispida, also known as winter melon, is a large fast-growing gourd with a pale green to white interior. It is grown all over Southeast Asia and in China. In Burma, it is used in curries; in Thailand, in soups and curries. The bottle gourd Lagenaria siceraria is another similar vegetable, longer rather than fat, pale green outside, with firm white flesh. There’s a gourd in Burma called calabash (boothi in Burmese) that is used in curries; it has a narrow neck bulging out into a large round shape and a fuzzy pale-green skin and white flesh. And there’s angle-gourd, also known as luffa (thabut in Burmese), with seven ridges running lengthwise on its long slender green shape. Chayote and deseeded zucchini, pattypan, and other summer squash can be substituted for these gourds and for one another with some differences in cooking times and textures.