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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

SNAKE GOURD



  • Common Name: Snake gourd
  • Scientific Name: Trichdsanthes cucumerina
  • Specimens From: Malaysia
  • Specimens Weight: 338 gm
Snake gourd is a narrow and longish fruit that looks like, what else? A snake! It is long, sometimes curve, and some varieties can grow more than 150 cm (5 feet) in length. It is believed to originate from South Asia. Snake gourd is always used as a vegetable and it is very popular in India, in Southeast Asia and also in some parts of China.

Most of them are dark green with several light green lines or streaks or the other way round but there are some varieties of which, are almost or totally white. It is soft and breaks easily when bend. There are numerous seeds, of which it is relatively large and slightly gray. The seeds and those sticky mass are always discarded when cooking. The skin are usually peeled off too.

When it is fully ripe, the inside of this fruit will turn red, similar to bitter gourd or melon but it tastes better when it is still green. As with most of the vegetables, there isn't much of a taste but still reasonably nice to eat. Occasionally, some varieties may have a trace of bitter taste.

Snake gourd can be cooked in many different ways. It goes well with curries, yogurts, stuffings, stir-fry or whatever you can think of. Try it for a change! Don't worry, this snake won't bite :)

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14 comments:

Mom Knows Everything said...

I've never heard of that before, but it does look like a snake.

Anonymous said...

Yikes! You always have the coolest foods....where do you find them?

Anonymous said...

I'm quite sure I saw it when I was in Malaysia more than 10 years ago - thanks for refreshing my memory.

Jackie said...

Haven't see that type of gourd in South Africa. Amazed how you find these unusual veggies.

Anonymous said...

interesting post.hope that you would post more interesting topics on your blog. You inspire me in the way you use your blog to share informations to others
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myonlyphoto said...

Some kind of fruit, looks like zuckini, lol. Funny how many things seems like they are vegetables, but in fact they are fruit, for example, the tomato. Nice post as always, thanks for sharing. Anna :)

Anonymous said...

i m raelly amazed and pleasing to see this king i really appreciated u

Fruity said...

Thanks to all for your wonderful comments. It's never been a problem for me to find those unusual fruits as I travel often to those exotic places
Fruity

Anonymous said...

Yeah right, it's funny but delicious and very nutritious!

Anonymous said...

Really it looks like a green snake . Cooked in many ways is a good quality.

suman
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Unknown said...

my inlaws belong from burma but have lived in pakistan for years now...we cook this vegetable with shrimps...just need to scrape of the skin, cut it in half lenghtwise..and scrape of the seeds..cut it into inch sized pieces...chop some onions and soften then in little oil..add shrimps...salt,turmeric and red chilli powder..add the veg..quick fry in then add little water to it..let it simmer..till it softens a bit...quick to cook and ammazing taste.

tayomismo said...

I was very pleased to find this site.I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.

Anonymous said...

Trichosanthes, pl note the spelling. Its treated as a vegetable rather than a fruit here in asia.

Bai Hu said...

Sometimes, the fruit taste bitter e.g. cucumber or snake gourd, etc, is because the soil which is used to grow them now is previously used to grow bitter gourds. The bitter gourds will somehow 'infect' & cause the soil to produce bitter vegetables or fruits next time round. This is what my mom told me, dunno whether it's true or not.