Easily Add Broth for More Flavor in the Dish!
Sometimes, choosing an ingredient over another for convenience isn’t the best idea. After the first try of a new recipe, I planned ahead by stocking the kitchen cabinet with some chicken broth. During the second attempt at the recipe with the new ingredient, the dish was much more flavorful!
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
I’ve cooked with fuzzy melon (aka hairy gourd) many times before in a soup, but this time when it was on sale, I decided to look for a new recipe.
Inspiring Recipe
What I found was Hairy Gourd with Mince Pork Recipe from the blog, Noob Cook.
First Try
For this recipe, I planned my shopping list based on 1 pound of ground meat, so I was supposed to buy 3.5 pounds of fuzzy melon. However, the closest I could get was 3.66 pounds.
Ingredients to Use
Since I now had a little more melon, I ended up using the amounts as listed below for the remaining ingredients:
Main
- .875 pound of ground beef*
- 2 ounces + 1/2 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of cooking oil
- 24 cloves of sliced garlic**
- 8 ounces of water
- 1/8 teaspoon of light soy sauce
- 2 ounces + 1/2 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of Shaoxing (Shaohsing) wine
Marinade
- 2 tablespoons + 1 1/8 teaspoons of light soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons + 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons + 1/4 teaspoon of Shaoxing (Shaohsing) wine
- 1 1/2 tablespoons + 1/4 teaspoon of corn starch
*Though the recipe called for pork or chicken mince, I used ground beef since I had some left from another recipe. Unfortunately, there was less than 1 pound left.
**Because I was using a knife to prepare the garlic, I decided to save some time by slicing instead of mincing them.
Steps to Prepare
I followed the three steps as listed in the directions of the recipe. Below are some additional details on a couple of the steps:
- Step 2 – Since I started marinating the beef after lunch, I was able to marinate it for almost 4.5 hours before cooking it for dinner.
- Step 3 – I simmered the dish, without having to add more water, for an extra 2 minutes, totaling 5 minutes, before the melon started to turn translucent.
Time to Eat
Here’s the dish ready for dinner!
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣0️⃣* | 🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
After trying the fuzzy melon with ground beef, I thought it needed more flavor.
Second Try
For the second attempt, I was hoping to add more flavor, so I replaced the water with something similar to the chicken stock option on the recipe: chicken bone broth.
Ingredients to Use
Since I started with 1.98 pounds of fuzzy melon*, I planned for less of each ingredient than the first time, as shown below:
Main
- .57 pound of ground beef
- 2 1/2 tablespoons + 1/4 teaspoon of cooking oil
- 13 cloves of sliced garlic
- 4 ounces + 1/2 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bone broth
- 2 1/2 tablespoons + 1/4 teaspoon of Shaoxing (Shaohsing) wine
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of light soy sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper powder
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of Shaoxing (Shaohsing) wine
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of corn starch
*See below in Step 1 for how much was actually usable.
Steps to Prepare
As compared to the first time, I had to make some adjustments in the process as highlighted below:
- Step 1 – While opening the melons, I noticed some dried brown seed-like spots inside them, so I cut those sections off and ended up with about 75% of the melons.
- Step 2 – This time, I marinated the beef for a little over 4 hours before cooking it for dinner.
- Step 3 – I simmered the dish for an extra 5 minutes while stirring occasionally, totaling 8 minutes, so the melon slices would be softer than before. Also, since I used chicken broth, the dish was salty enough and didn’t require more seasoning. Lastly, because I didn’t know how long it would take to simmer everything, I added the wine once I was satisfied with the texture of the melon pieces.
Time to Eat
Here’s the dish with softer fuzzy melon slices.
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second attempt:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣0️⃣* | 🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
For this round, the fuzzy melon slices were not too mushy or nor too hard, so that was a plus.
In addition, the flavors from the white pepper, wine, soy sauce, and sesame oil stood out in the beef. According to the article, Cook Your Pasta In Chicken Broth To Give It A Unique Kick Of Flavor, on the food and beverage website, Daily Meal, chicken broth was a flavor enhancer for the pasta, so I think it was the same in this dish!
Though fuzzy melon and ground beef won’t be regularly cooked, I would try it again if I wanted to have an alternative to fuzzy melon soup or use up ground meat. To improve the flavor next time, I would try the following option from the recipe:
Continuous Improvement
- Add mushroom powder to the dish.
Based on my experience with this dish and the article, Mushroom Powder Gets You Big Flavor in a (Literal) Pinch, from magazine, Bon Appétit, I suspect that the following would be something helpful for my younger self to know:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- When there are choices, pick the least common one. (In this case, I would’ve chosen the mushroom powder instead of salt or soy sauce as a seasoning.)
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the Hairy Gourd with Mince Pork Recipe from the blog, Noob Cook?
- Learn more about mushroom powder? (One source is the article, Mushroom Powder Gets You Big Flavor in a (Literal) Pinch, from magazine, Bon Appétit.)
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)