Golden Korean Melons

A few weeks ago, I was shopping at Ranch 99 market, the huge mega store of Asian goodies.

They always have the most unusual Asian produce (this is not necessarily the place to support sustainable foods since most of the produce killed tons of airline fuel to get here). Something that caught my eye was this beautiful oblong shaped melon with dark yellow sections. It was called a Korean melon.

I’d never seen these before, and I’m a big fan of melons during the summer. The unusual sectioning of the fruit reminded me of the fancy Italian melons I sometimes see at the grocery store, but those are more round like a soccer ball while this Korean melon was oblong and about the size of a big papaya.

I’m not sure why it’s called Korean melons. Maybe they originated there or maybe it’s just popular among the Koreans. Doing some research on the Web, I couldn’t find the proper Korean name. I saw “boseok,” “chameh” and “dua gan.” Any of my Korean friends out there know what this is called?

Like any other melons, I picked one that was firm with a slight give. I definitely sniffed it to see if I could detect any perfume smell. You know, that whole sweet nectar from the gods thing.

When I got home, I cut into it and the seeds and flesh looked a lot like a honeydew melon. But the sweetness definitely was more like cantaloupe. Weird huh? I thought it was nice to eat, but I wouldn’t say it tasted any different than a really nice cantaloupe. And it wasn’t super sweet. So really, it’s just a matter of whether you feel like eating a yellow fleshed melon or orange fleshed melon.

Serve it with a side of kim chee and I’m so there!

Other posts of interest:
Casaba: The Wrinkly Melon
Watermelon and Arugula Salad Recipe