Scarlett WHoneydew Melon with Ginger-lemon Sauce
April 10th 2008 15:02
Honeydew Melon with Ginger-lemon Sauce
About Honeydew Melon with Ginger-lemon Sauce
A zingy sauce adds a kick to the traditional combination of refreshing melon and ginger in this fat-free dessert.
About ginger
Ginger is used as a spice in cooking throughout the world, often erroneously referred to as “ginger root”. Ginger contains up to 3% of an essential oil that causes the fragrance of the spice.
The ginger plant has a long history of cultivation known to originate in China and then spread to India, Southeast Asia, West Africa, and the Caribbean.
In Western cuisine, ginger is traditionally restricted to sweet foods, such as ginger ale, gingerbread, ginger snaps, ginger cake and ginger biscuits. A ginger-flavoured liqueur called Canton is produced in Jarnac, France. Green ginger wine is a ginger flavoured wine produced in the United Kingdom, traditionally sold in a green glass bottle. Ginger is also used as a spice added to hot coffee and tea.
In Arabic, ginger is called Zanjabil and in some parts of the Middle East ginger powder is used as a spice for coffee.
In India, ginger is called “Aadu” in Gujarati, “Shoonti” in Kannada language [Karnataka], Allam in Telugu, Inji in Tamil and Malayalam, Alay in Marathi and Adrak in Hindi and Urdu. Fresh ginger is one of the main spices used for making pulse and lentil curries and other vegetable preparations. It is used fresh to spice tea especially in winter. Also, ginger powder is used in certain food preparations that are made particularly for expecting women and feeding mothers, the most popular one being Katlu which is a mixture of gum resin, ghee, nuts and sugar.
In Japan, ginger is pickled to make beni shoga and gari or grated and used raw on tofu or noodles. It is also made into a candy called shoga no satozuke.
In Myanmar, ginger is used in a salad dish called gyin-tho, which consists of shredded ginger preserved in oil, and a variety of nuts and seeds.
Indonesia has a famous beverage that called Wedang Jahe, which is made from ginger and palm sugar; Indonesians also use ground ginger root, called jahe or djahe, as a frequent ingredient in local recipes.
In traditional Korean kimchi, ginger is finely minced and added to the ingredients of the spicy paste just before the fermenting process.
In South East Asia, the flower of a type of ginger is used in cooking. This unopened flower is known in the Malay language as Bunga Kantan, and is used in salads and also as garnish for sour-savoury soups, like Assam Laksa.
In the Ivory Coast, ginger is ground and mixed with orange, pineapple and lemon to produce a juice called Nyamanku.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 8
1 honeydew melon
For the sauce
50 gm / 1¾ oz root ginger
200 gm / 7 oz demerara sugar
1 – 2 tablespoons lemon juice
For garnish
sprigs of fresh mint
1. First make the ginger-lemon sauce. With a small knife, peel off the hard outer skin of the ginger, then grate the flesh finely, discarding any stringy threads.
2. Place the grated ginger, sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a saucepan with 250 ml / 9 fl oz of water and bring the mixture to the boil, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar before it boils.
3. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes., or until the sauce has thickened enough to coat a spoon lightly. Taste it and add extra lemon juice if desired.
4. Transfer the sauce to a bowl to cool for 30 minutes, then place the sauce and the melon in the refrigerator, separately, to chill overnight.
5. When you are ready to serve, cut the melon in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Cut each half into four wedges, then trim off the rind.
6. To serve, put a slice of melon on each plate, pour the chilled sauce over it and garnish with a sprig of mint.
**From “Low Fat No Fat Cookbook” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” **
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