Winter Melon with Kampung Chicken Soup

Winter Melon with Kampung Chicken Soup

My recipe for today is the winter melon with kampung chicken soup.  Winter melon also known as gorouk or guronsom by KadazanDusun.  Winter melon is a fairly big round fruit with dark green skin. Sometimes there is also a kind of long and oval fruit.  It looks like a water melon but is actually a squash. The hard, thin, mid-green skin has a waxy feel and a whitish tinge. The mildly flavored white flesh has the texture of watermelon but it not sweet. It’s high in vitamin A and vitamin C.

Winter melon has a little taste but cooking it with kampung chicken meat will make it more flavorful.  This soup is simple and relatively quick to prepare.

Ingredients:

1. 1 liter of water
2. 1 whole winter melon
3. 1 whole kampung chicken
4. 3 inc ginger
5. 1/2 cup of lihing (KadazanDusun rice wine)
6. salt to taste
7. finely chopped spring onion to garnish

Method:

• Scrub the winter melon skin to remove the waxy and a whitish tinge. Remove seeds and cut into middle-sized chunks.
• Clean, cut and drain chicken.
• Remove ginger skin and slice.
• Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add chicken and sliced ginger. Cook for about 15 minutes.
• Add in winter melon, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Pour in lihing and add salt to taste. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
• Garnish with spring onion and serve.

This is really a healthy soup that tastes light, cleansing, and satisfying at the same time.  I finish two bowls for myself.  I serve my first bowl of soup as congee. Mix it with a scoop of plain rice.

I put some "jeruk bambangan" for my second bowl.  Do not be surprised if you sweat a lot... because this juicy, velvety winter melon soup really can detoxify your body.