Chicken and Honeydew Melon Soup

I’ve been enjoying cooking with my new electric pressure cooker, the Instant Pot, and have been making soups with it.  Steps like pre-soaking and blanching become optional and saves loads of time.  Today’s blog post features melon soup which is a refreshing broth-based soup that is easy to whip up.   My mother would use pork and winter melon in her soup.  But since I have yet to find winter melon sold here, I decided to go with a more readily available melon such as the honeydew melon.

It may seem strange to put a sweet fruit in a savoury soup, but the honeydew melon imparts a very subtle sweetness to the soup.  Upon cooking, the melon chunks turn translucent in colour and take on a melt-in-your-mouth texture.  In my mother’s recipe, she would put a sprinkling of whole white peppercorns for a bit of heat.  Since peppercorns are not advisable while on the AIP, I have replaced it with a small knob of ginger.  This complements chicken as well.  I like using chicken drumsticks as the bone and dark meat provides extra depth and flavour to the soup and it makes it easier to portion out, especially for my toddler.  Pork ribs or tenderloin can also be used if preferred.  Dried scallops and shitake mushrooms provide an umami flavour to the soup and can usually be found in Chinese grocery stores but may be omitted if unavailable.    Unfortunately, using fresh scallops and mushrooms will not impart the same flavour.  Instead, substitute by increasing the quantity of meat used by about 25%.

Ingredients (Serves 3 as a main, 6 as a starter)

• 6 chicken drumsticks
• 1/2 honeydew melon, skin and seeds removed and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 3 dried scallops
• 1 knob ginger, peeled (1/2 inch length)
• 6 red dates or 2 medjool dates (halved and seed removed)
• 2 dried shitake mushrooms (or 5-6 miniature dried mushrooms)
• 5 cups filtered water
• Sea salt to taste

Method (for pressure cooker)

• Rinse dried scallops, dates and mushrooms
• Place into pot together with chicken drumsticks and honeydew melon
• Top up with water
• Pressure cook for approximately 30 minutes
• Skim off any floating scum/ oil if necessary
• Season with sea salt to taste and serve hot

Method (for stove top)

• In a small bowl, rinse and soak scallops and mushrooms in about a cup of warm water for 30 minutes – 1 hour
• Fill your soup pot with water and add chicken drumsticks.  There should be enough water to barely cover them.  Bring to boil for 3 minutes, before removing the drumsticks and discarding the water.  This step ensures a cleaner tasting broth.  Give the pot a rinse if there is scum stuck on the pot.
• Return the blanched chicken drumsticks and the rest of the ingredients except for the honeydew melon into the pot (include the water used to soak the scallops and mushrooms but leave out any ‘debris’ at the bottom of the bowl)
• Bring to boil, then lower heat and maintain a steady light simmer with the lid ajar for about 45 minutes to an hour
• Add the honeydew melon chunks and increase the heat, bringing the soup to a boil
• Lower the heat and continue simmering with the lid ajar for 15-30 minutes
• Skim off any floating scum/ oil if necessary
• Season with sea salt to taste and serve hot