Sweets and drinksPreservesVietnam20 minutes preparation, 45 to 50 minutes cooking, not counting an overnight lime soak and 8 hours macerating
These sticks come out crisp and dry under a fine white coating. What makes them good is how long that crispness holds. The difficulty is the two soaks, since skipping either one leaves the sticks soft and weeping.
The overnight soak in lime water is the step that gives them their snap. The melon spends 15 minutes in alum water first, then moves to the lime water. It cooks until the coating dries white around each stick.
This batch weighs about 1.3kg, at roughly 19 calories per 100g.
Method
A day ahead, mix 5g alum with 4 liters of water and 15g food grade slaked lime with 4 liters of water in two separate basins and leave them overnight.
The next day, take 2 liters of the alum water for soaking and keep the rest for blanching. From the lime basin, pour off only the clear water on top and discard the sediment.
Peel and seed 750g winter melon, then cut it into sticks about the size of a little finger.
Soak the melon in the alum water for 15 minutes, lift it out and soak it in the clear lime water, covered, overnight.
Lift the melon out and wash it thoroughly several times to remove all the lime.
Bring the remaining 2 liters of alum water to a boil, blanch the melon for about 1 minute, then drop it into a bowl of cold water for crispness, rinse it again and drain.
Put the melon in a large bowl with 495g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, mix well, cover with cling film and leave for about 8 hours until everything dissolves.
Tip the melon and syrup into a pan over high heat. Once it boils, add 2 vials of vanilla powder, lower the heat to medium and stir constantly.
When the syrup thickens, drop the heat and keep stirring for 20 to 25 minutes until the coating sets white and dry around each stick.
Tips
A heavy bottomed nonstick pan spreads the heat evenly, so nothing scorches and the melon does not catch.
The overnight soak in clear lime water is the step that makes the sticks crisp rather than weeping.
Wash the melon thoroughly after the lime soak, since any lime left behind leaves a harsh edge.
Cook until the sticks are completely dry, which is what makes them keep.
Cut the melon into even sticks about the size of a little finger so the whole batch takes up the syrup and dries at the same rate.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.