The idea of using watermelon rind might be foreign to many – it was to me, even though I have received jars of pickled watermelon rind, something I assumed was a regional food. That only means I never had it growing up, and had never considered it, even though the huge volume of rind that was sent to the compost every time I cut into watermelon always made me pause.

Reading through Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge, I discovered the rind was a good substitute for fuzzy melon, an ingredient I had only read about but had not eaten.  Since I seem to frequently juggle space in my fridge for watermelons during the summer months, this was a natural for me. I did not get a chance to make the recipe last week with the fuzzy melon (page 232), so I was pleased when Wok Wednesdays, wokking our way through Grace Young‘s book, had this on our schedule as the next recipe!

The small amount of pork helps highlight the flavour and texture of this delicate dish, just as the pork makes dishes like ma po tofu taste a bit Moorish (to borrow a yummy term from Jamie Oliver!) and the ginger is a wonderful taste of slight heat.

I loved the hint of colour and the fresh flavour, almost like a smooth cucumber, another summer favourite of mine. Removing the outer green skin was surprisingly easy to peel, and prep took only 10-15 minutes to get everything in place not only for this recipe, but also to quickly follow on in the same wok with a cabbage and bacon stir-fry (page 229), a quick and satisfying adaptation from Tane Chan’s Albuquerque childhood that Grace included in Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge.

We are asked to not publish the recipes here on our blog(s), so I encourage you to check out the book from your local library, buy a hard copy or even buy it electronically (tho I like the book best – I can add my notes and enjoy reading the stories beyond the recipes). You can find this recipe on pages 230-232.

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group, as well as a Facebook group – so I hope we will see you there!