![[photo-homemade fuzzy melon salted egg drop pork soup recipe]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7178/7089536777_6645a394b5.jpg "Fuzzy Melon Salted Egg Drop Pork Soup")
Following the theme of my last post on quick and easy homemade soups, here is another recipe that allows you to cook up a delicious kid-friendly Chinese soup in about 35 minutes at your own kitchen.
This recipe is like the ever so popular and easy-to-make Egg Drop Soup. In case you were wondering, Egg Drop Soup gets its name from its signature silky egg wisps that float about the soup. And like a traditional Egg Drop soup, this recipe uses eggs to create the same smooth mouth-feel. But in this recipe, I use salted egg whites to make the egg drop. Another special ingredient in this easy homemade recipe is fuzzy melon. This mild-flavored melon is shaped like a cucumber with short fuzzy hair on the skin. This is why Fuzzy Melon is also called Hairy Gourd, or Mo Qua (“Mo” meaning hair, and “Qua” meaning squash in Chinese).
For those who are health-conscious, you may find comfort in knowing that this tasty homemade recipe is gluten free, low calorie, and low sodium. The fuzzy melon and salted egg in this recipe also offers a cooling effect for those who are heaty and feel thirsty all the time due to a Yin imbalance in the body.
And if you have not tried my version of the Egg Drop Soup, with Shrimp and Cilantro, you should give that a try also!
![[photo-fuzzy melon mo qwa hairy gourd salted egg drop pork soup ingredients]](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6142/6003586308_2d28f4f399.jpg "Fuzzy Melon Salted Egg Drop Pork Soup Ingredients")
Simple ingredients for a Fuzzy Melon Egg Drop Soup
- 1 fuzzy melon, about 1lb
- 1 salted egg (uncooked)
- ½ lb of lean pork
- 2 slices of ginger
- 6 cups of water
- ¼ tsp salt
- Bring 6 cups of water to boil in a small pot. While the water is boiling, rinse the fuzzy melon and peel the skin. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, then cut across each half a few times to get ½ inch slices.
- When the water boils, add the ginger and fuzzy melon to the pot. Put the lid on and cook on medium-low heat for about 25 minutes or until the squash is soft.
- While the squash cooks, cut the pork to very thin slices (1/8 of an inch or thinner). Sprinkle on the salt and mix well to marinate. In two separate bowls, carefully crack the salted egg and separate the whites from the yolk.
- When the squash is soft, add the pork slices to the pot. If the meat clumps together, loosen them up in the soup with a fork or a pair of chopsticks. Add the egg yolk in carefully so it cooks whole and unbroken. Put the lid back on and cook for another 5 minutes or until the pork and yolk are both cooked.
- Turn off the heat. Make the egg drop by slowly pouring in the salted egg white while stirring the soup continuously to feather out the egg white. Keep stirring until all of the whites are cooked. Season with a small pinch of salt as needed before serving.
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I made it tonight and it was great!
My mom used to make this soup for me all the time, but since her and I no longer talk, I was not able to get this recipe from her. Love the soup!
Hi Andrew,
Thank you so much for visiting and for leaving a comment! I am so glad that you found my website and were able to follow this recipe. How did it all turn out?
This salted egg drop pork soup brings to me lots of nostalgia of my childhood days living with mom in Hong Kong. And it looks like this soup reminds you of your mother as well. I hope you really enjoyed the soup and will continue to make more of these Chinese soups!
Sharon | Chinese Soup Pot