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Shark’s Fin Melon Soup
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I am cooking shark’s fin melon soup! NOT shark’s fin + melon soup, but soup made with shark’s fin melon … so don’t worry, no sharks were killed in the making of this soup. As you may have guessed, shark’s fin melon got its name from its resemblance to shark’s fin, a popular and exorbitantly expensive Chinese delicacy. When cooked (see photo on right), the strands of the melon separate a little, resembling cooked shark’s fin, hence the name of this melon. Shark’s fin melon is cheap – I bought a piece of melon for only S$1.50. I was told that real shark’s fin on its own has no nutrition value and no taste, and the overall taste of the shark’s fin soup comes from its earthy broth of chicken, crab and other ingredients. This melon, on the other hand, is packed with lots of taste and nutrients, even my mum swears by the health benefits of this soup. If I am selling this soup, my sales pitch will be that “this soup is more nutritional and much, much cheaper than real sharks fin soup”.
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In Singapore, this melon is labeled as ‘Shark’s Fin Melon’ (鱼翅瓜). The flesh resembles winter melon but the green skin covering looks entirely different. According to Wiki, in other countries especially in the west, the other names of this melon are spaghetti squash (Cucurbita pepo), vegetable spaghetti, noodle squash, Spaghetti Marrow (in the UK) , squaghetti or Sharkfin Melon (鱼翅瓜). However, spaghetti squash and the other names may not be a 100% accurate translation, though it gives a good start. According to readers comments, the spaghetti squash in the west is sort of yellow/orange outside and inside. There may be a slight variation of breed from location to location.
Shark’s Fin Melon (L: removing seeds with a spoon, R: cut into chunks)
Hi Kalyn, thank you! =) Hmm yes now it does seem like spaghetti squash isn’t 100% the same as shark’s fin melon, though they are close … thanks for sharing ^^
Joanna, wolfberries and red dates are pretty common in South East Asia, maybe you can try looking for them in Chinatown, or an asian dried goods/grocery store. Hope it helps =)
Dee, glad u find the post useful ;p opps I dunno the Cantonese name … but I am quite sure you can find it where you are (M’sia) … hehe
ts, thanks!! =) yes it does seem that they are slightly different. Hope you find it, can’t wait to see what you whip up with it!
wc, one of the breeds of wintermelon sold here has 100% dark green skin, while the other is spotted, so I guess each type of melon has many varieties depending on where they are from? I’m interested to try the US version one day if I have a chance =)
You have becoming the professional recipe writer here!
Nice photos, explicit information and instructions and interesting set up of the overall post.
Superb!!
I loooove sharksfin melon soup and now I know to look and ask for spaghetti squash! Thanks for the tip :) Although looking at the above comments, I must remember to look for the white flesh and not yellow flesh type. And congrats on turning one!
MWL: Thanks, you flatter me :) :|
Nilmandra: Thanks!! Yes it is white and the yellow is slightly subtle… hope you find it in Canada ;)
This soup looks really great!
The squash from your picture is Cucurbita ficifolia, it’s different from Spaghetti Squash.
Here in Argentina we call it “cayote”. In this map there are some uses for this fruit, in different countries.
Cheers,
Marcela
Hi Marcela, thanks for your info about Spaghetti Squash in Argentina… useful info and I appreciate it ^_^
Many thanks for ALL your recipes. I’ve tried many of them and i can see why u LOVE to add red dates. soup is soooo sweet!! and almost ALL your recipes have red dates. any other alternatives??
You could try dried figs.
Hey noobietoo, thanks for your reply… glad u like the soup recipes :) Hmm you can always omit the red dates for any recipe. Hmm to make it sweet u can also try adding soya beans… just soak for two hours, discard water and add to the rest of the soup ingredients to boil ;p
Nice blog about shark fin melon. I live in New Zealand and have shark fin melon vines growing in my backyard. The vines really spread out and have to be moved to stop them climbing over my clothes line! I get about 2-3 crops per year of melons; the vines flower in spring and autumn and I can get anything from 3-5 melons per crop. They can grow quite large; up to the size of a basketball, sometimes bigger! I cook the melon with pork bones and dried scallops; my mum adds red dates for sweetness when she cooks the melons.
Thanks for sharing Lance, I’m quite envious of your flourishing melon garden =)