Winter Melon Tea – Trip to the Farmers Market

Winter Melon Tea – Trip to the Farmers Market



Winter Melon Tea Healthy and Easy to Make



Our County has a small but important Organic Farmer’s Market that runs every Saturday morning from Spring through mid Fall possibly beyond if the Farmers have product to sell. I try to go every weekend and if I can’t make it I put in an order with my parents to pick up what I would like and will pick it up from them. This weekend while most of the summer fruits and vegetables were no longer available there were some great heirloom squashes, tomatoes, and potatoes on offer. I make my purchases fro the different vendors depending on what looks good or interesting that week. My parents – at least with one vendor are a part of his CSA. That means that they are guaranteed a portion of his produce each week. That also means that they wind up with a ton of things they wouldn’t normally pick out. That is also the reason that we wind up at Grandma and Grandpa Two Little Cavaliers for dinner either Saturday or Sunday night.

This weekend it was my insistence that brought us together for dinner last night. One of the vendors at the market had grown and were selling Winter Melon. For those of you who have never seen a Winter Melon they are gigantic. A small one is the size of a baby and a large one the size of a child. Knowing that no one was going to buy a 20lb Winter Melon for the first time they cut one up and my parents and I both wound up with 4lbs. I was really excited about it. If and when I get a chance to read it tends to be Historical Fiction and a lot of the time it is Asian Historical Fiction. Winter Melon is something that I have read about and seen baby versions of but never a full grown one and never when I was in a position to purchase it and make something out of it.

We actually made Winter Melon 3 ways. Winter Melon needs to be cooked in order to eat it I don’t think anything would happen to you if you tried it raw but it tastes like a really subtle cucumber. Eaten when cooked it not only picks up the flavors of the food it is made with but it adds health benefits as well. I found recipes for stir fry, soup, tea, and desserts all using winter melon as the main ingredient. For our post today I am going to share the results of my first ever Winter Melon Tea. I opted for a quick cook version for timing purposes as well as because it was still summer and too hot to cook it down for two hours. I sort of combined the fast cook and the slow cook version and would like to try both in the future.



Winter Melon Tea is perfect for cooling after a day outside



Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs of Winter Melon cut into chunks with skin on!
1/4 cup light brown sugar – the recipe I used called for dark brown but I think it made the Tea too Dark and would have been better with light brown sugar.
8 cups of water.

The skin of the winter melon holds a lot of the health benefits of the winter melon including its cooling nature and why you can drink the Winter Melon Tea Hot or Cold. For this recipe you will want to leave the skin on. Make sure to wash it well you might want to take the rough side of a sponge and give it a good scrubbing. The skin gets a waxy film when ripe and is how you know they are ready for picking. Chunk the Winter Melon into bite sized pieces. Combine all of the ingredients into a pot and cook on high until the mixture boils. Once the Winter Melon Tea has been boiling for a few minutes lower the light and let it continue to simmer for about a half hour. The winter melon should turn translucent. Once that occurs you can pour it into tea cups and drink war to cool off from a hot day or let it cool off and add ice for an icy treat.



Easy Winter Melon Tea

I didn’t drink mine right away and got much more concentrated while in the refrigerator overnight. It still has a very subtle taste and did help me cool off after spending time outside.

I filled a glass with crushed ice and poured the cold Winter Melon Tea over it. You can add a few chunks of the cooked winter melon to the tea and eat the chunks as you drink or you can discard them and add Tapioca Bubbles. I took out the Winter Melon and and going to try to use it to make one of the desserts that I found. If it turns out I will let you know.


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Comments

  1. I have never heard of a winter melon. You do make me want to go visit our farmer’s market though! ☺
    M. K. Clinton recently posted..Bravo! Bravo! Make Good HappenMy Profile

  2. Wow, I would love to try this! Looks like you have a little friend who wants to try too.

  3. I’ve never heard of Winter Melon and didn’t realize you would need to cook it! Thank you so much for the tips! #ThrowbackThursdayLP
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  4. Joni Kennedy says

    Thanks, I love the article! We will have the melons this weekend for the Clarkesville Farmers Market, both whole and 4lbs chunks. We are entering it in the fair today!!

  5. This sounds delicious. I have not been to the Farmers Market in ages. #ThrowbackThursdayLP
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  6. I thought I’d have to read a book for a discovery like this!

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