Winter Melon

The plant grows thick vines with coarse, hairy stems. It has large, rough leaves between 10–30 centimetres (4–12 in) long. In early summer from June to September, golden yellow flowers form in the leaf axils. After they are pollinated, they bear obloid fruit 50–60 cm (20–24 in) long and 10–25 cm wide. They typically weigh 5–10 kg, with weights of up to 34.5 kg recorded. The young fruit are covered with soft fuzzy hairs which eventually disappear and develop a waxy coating that gives the fruit a shelf life of up to a year. The fruit has thick flesh that is sweet, crisp and juicy; it has white or yellow seeds.

The wax gourd is native to South and Southeast Asia. It is widely grown throughout Asia, including Java and Japan, the places where it is thought to have originated.

The fruit, seeds, buds and young leaves can be eaten cooked, resembling pumpkin or zucchini. The gourd can be stored for many months, much like winter squash.

Ash gourds of the Indian subcontinent have a white coating with a rough texture (hence the name ash gourd). Southeast Asian varieties have a smooth waxy texture. It is one of the few vegetables available during winter in areas of deciduous vegetation. In India, the wax gourd is viewed as having medicinal properties in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. It is also viewed as having significance in spiritual traditions of India and Yoga, where it is identified as a great source of prana.

In Cambodia, it is known as tralach (Khmer: ត្រឡាច), and used in soup and stews in Cambodian cuisine. It is commonly used to make samlor tralach, which is winter gourd and pork soup, or stuffed pork in the gourd. In Chinese cuisine, the gourds are used in stir fries or combined with pork or pork/beef bones to make winter gourd soup, often served in the scooped out gourd, carved by scraping off the waxy coating. It is also chopped and candied as wintermelon candy (dōng guā táng), commonly eaten at New Year festivals, or as filling for Sweetheart cake (lǎopó bǐng). …

It is grown in well-drained loam and sandy soils in warm, mild climates, and will not tolerate frosts. It is grown in riverbeds or furrows, and needs constant irrigation during the growing season.

The name "winter melon" that is sometimes given to this plant is based on the Chinese name dōngguā (冬瓜); however, the character 瓜 (guā) can also mean "gourd" or "squash". It is likely that the name "melon" is given because this gourd is sometimes candied or made into a sweet tea. The name "wax gourd" comes from the wax coating in the fruit's skin.