Towel Gourd Stir Fry with Mushrooms

Healthy and vegetarian towel gourd stir fry with bottom mushrooms.

Although it is extremely hot in this summer and we are locked at home because of the high temperature, I still have love for summer for the plenties of melons and gourds. Watermelon is my favorite fruit and we also get lots of fresh vegetables in the three months of summer. And I love to introduce towel gourd this time.

What’s towel gourd (loofah)？

Towel gourd (Chinese name: “丝瓜”) is a widely cultivated vegetable which belongs to the luffa group. The name “丝瓜” literally means trace melon since after dried completely, there are many traces inside. The dried towel gourd is named as Loofah so sometimes the fresh melon is also called as loofah gourd. Fresh and young loofah gourd is quite tender and carrying a lovely sweet flavor. We eat this type of vegetable very frequently.

There are several sub-spices, so they may look different in length and width. But all of them share very similar texture and flavors and exactly same cooking methods.

How to prepare towel gourd?

When you touch the skin, it is quite hard to imagine how delicious the melon can be. If you harvested loofah gourd to cook later, you can place them in fridge or in a water jar. Peel off the tough skin completely and further cut for cooking.

How to cook loofah gourd

The most simple way of cooking loofah is to simply stir fry it with oil and garlic. Or further mix with other vegetables or mushrooms like what we did in this recipe. Another popular way of cooking loofah gourd is to make soups. The soups can be drink directly or can also be used a s noodle soup. In addition, sometimes we use loofah gourd as the container for minced meat, seafood for steaming dishes. I may introduce that later.

Cook’s Note

• The two ingredients mushroom and loofah gourd are two great sources of umami flavor. So I highly recommend only adding garlic and salt and skip other seasonings to keep the natural flavors.
• Heat the wok until hot before adding the oil. So the cooking time can be finished within 2 minutes. Long time cooking will spoil the lovely green color. This dish should be cooked as the last ones for the meal, just like other leafy stir fires.

Instructions

Peel the tough skin of the gourd and then cut into chunks. Cut mushrooms into halves too.

Heat wok until really hot, place in oil and fry garlic until aromatic. The best stage will be the garlic is slightly browned but not burnt.

Add the towel gourd and mushrooms in, fry 2 minutes. Add salt, mix well and serve hot.