Chokos - Ungly But Oh So Sweet! 蝦米炒佛手瓜 Stir Fried Chokos with Dried Shrimps

How often have you walked pass these without giving them a second look? Yes, they are indeed not the most beautiful vegetable to look at, and it's more well known for the invasive nature of the plant itself. I grew up with one of these vines growing near the vegetable patch. Apart from the edible gourd, the young shoots are used to stir fry in the same manner as one would with kangkong.

Please get a few of them the next time you come across these weird looking gourds. I in fact got mine from my local supermarket for a dollar each. I cooked this very briefly with some minced garlic and dried shrimps and childhood memories of packing the excess gourds and sending them to the neighbours keeps flashing back!!

We had this as a side dish to go with ginger chicken and steamed rice.

P.S Chokos also known as chayote is called buddha's hand gourd (佛手瓜 pronounced fo shou gua) and the young shots drogon's whiskers (龍鬚 pronounced long xu) in Chinese.  Not bad for something that is considered a pest in most part of the world hey!

serves 3 as part of a Chinese meal

you'll need;

2 chokoes, cut into neat slivers

3 cloves of garlic, minced

50g of dried shrimps, soaked, drained and minced

dash of Chinese cooking wine

dash of light soy

dash of oyster sauce

salt and pepper to taste

peel off the tough outer skin.

Cut chokos in half and remove the soft seeds. Cut into neat slivers.

Have everything ready.

Saute garlic and dried shrimp with a little oil til fragrant.

Add chokos, add seasonings and fry for 5 minutes. It should be al dente.

Serve immediately as part of a Chinese meal.