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This hairy gourd with tang hoon (glass noodles) stir-fry is an easy and popular Cantonese home cooking. Despite its humble appearance, this dish is delicious and satisfying.
What is hairy gourd ?
Hairy gourd / fuzzy melon or known as mao gua is one of the popular Chinese vegetables. They are often used in soup and stir-fry dishes like this. Hairy gourd has green peel covered by tiny hair and hence the name. When you cut it open you will see the flesh is white in color. It has a texture and taste very similar to winter melon.
The combination of hairy gourd, tang hoon (mungbean vermicelli noodles/glass noodles), and dried shrimp is simply excellent. You wouldn’t have thought that something so humble and simple can taste so good. My kids love this dish a lot (and I’m forever grateful that they are super adventurous eaters)
How to stir-fry hairy gourd with tang hoon
1. Soak the dried shrimp in warm water for about 10 minutes or until softened. Do the same with mungbean thread noodles (tang hoon) in a separate large bowl
2. Peel the skin of hairy gourd. If you want to leave the skin on, you can do so too. You can use a veggie peeler to carefully remove the tiny hair from the skin. Rinse with water and pat the hairy gourd dry. Cut into strips (thin or thick is up to you). I cut mine rather thick, about 1/2-inch thick. Mix all seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set aside
3. Preheat a large wok. Add oil. Stir fry garlic, ginger, and dried shrimp until aromatic, about 2 minutes
4. Add the hairy gourd strips followed by seasonings and stir fry for about 1 minute
5. Add seasonings, chicken broth and pre-soaked glass noodles
6. Cover and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the gourd strips are soft but not mushy and there will still a bit of broth left so the dish is a bit saucy but not soupy. Have a taste and adjust seasonings to your preference
7. Garnish with green onion and serve immediately as part of multi-course meal
Substitutions
Hairy gourd: If you can’t get hairy gourd, you can use winter melon, zucchini, chayote
Dried shrimp: to make it vegetarian or vegan, you can use fermented soy bean paste or miso paste for that umami flavor
Oyster sauce: to make it vegetarian or vegan, you can buy vegetarian oyster sauce, mushroom-based oyster sauce
Did you make this hairy gourd with tang hoon recipe?
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Stir-fried Hairy Gourd with Tang Hoon
Ingredients
- 800 gr hairy gourd
- 30 gr dried shrimp
- 40 gr mungbean thread noodles
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1 cup chicken broth
Seasonings: (please adjust to your preference)
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ⅛ tsp ground white peppercorns
Garnish:
- 1 stalk green onion finely chopped
Instructions
Things to prepare:
- Soak the dried shrimp in warm water for about 10 minutes or until softened. Do the same with mungbean thread noodles (tang hoon) in a separate large bowl
- Peel the skin of hairy gourd. If you want to leave the skin on, you can do so too. You can use a veggie peeler to carefully remove the tiny hair from the skin. Rinse with water and pat the hairy gourd dry. Cut into strips (thin or thick is up to you). I cut mine rather thick, about 1/2-inch thick
- Mix all seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set aside
Cooking:
- Preheat a large wok. Add oil. Stir fry garlic, ginger, and dried shrimp until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add the hairy gourd strips followed by seasonings and stir fry for about 1 minute
- Add chicken broth and pre-soaked glass noodles. Cover and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the gourd strips are soft but not mushy and there will still a bit of broth left so the dish is a bit saucy but not soupy. Have a taste and adjust seasonings to your preference
- Garnish with green onion and serve immediately as part of multi-course meal
4 comments
The recipe ingredients do not include chicken broth.
Thank you for catching that! I have updated the recipe accordingly.
We had this dish quite often when we were young. Nowadays, I use other veggies such as cucumber or choko when in season.
Quick, simple and delicious.
Being health-conscious, I am wondering how do you calculate the Nutrition values at the end of your recipe?
Hi Don, I use cucumber and choko too and more often than not zucchini. I use this nutrition calculator that comes built-in with the recipe card.