Vietnamese Meat-Stuffed Gourd Soup (Canh Bầu Nhồi Thịt)

In Asian cuisines, gourd vegetables are very common. Often gourds or pumpkins will be boiled to make soup with shrimp or meat. Gourds or what Vietnamese call,  bầu, bí,  when used in a soup, make the soup more attractive and delicious, especially when meats or seafood are stuffed into the gourd. For me, every time I cook this soup recalls memories of the time when my family left Vietnam to resettle in the United States. A plane took  our family to Thailand one evening in July of 1984. We were served stuffed cucumber soup. Actually, the taste of the stuffed cucumber soup of Thailand did not measure up to that of the stuffed gourd soup of Vietnam, but then the joy of seeing my father after almost ten years of separation may have increased the flavor of the soup in a  special way. Later, I also occasionally cooked Thai stuffed cucumber soup just to relive those  very important memories in me. I originally planned to present this Thai soup recipe at another time, but since I have enough stuffing available now, the soup recipe below will include both stuffed cucumbers and stuffed gourds. Gourds are sold a lot in Vietnamese and in the Korean markets. The price is also affordable, and this soup has the very good effects of decreasing the heat in the body and to calm nerves . However,  there are a few steps to prepare before, but this is a delicious and nutritious dishes . This soup can be cooked in a crock pot to enhance the flavor and slow cooking will make the broth very clear. If possible, I recommend trying to create this dish occasionally as a change of taste from the family’s everyday meal routine.

Directions:
1 gourd
1 cucumber
6 cups kelp or chicken broth
Stuffing ingredients:
¼ lb. meat paste (gio song) homemade or store-bought
3 Chinese dried fungi
1 oz. oyster mushrooms, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, mined
1 oz. cellophane noodles
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp mushroom seasoning, optional

Directions:
Soak the dried fungi in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain and squeeze out the water. Finely dice and set aside.

 

Soak the cellophane noodles. Drain and roughly chop the noodles.

Dice the oyster mushrooms.
Place all the stuffing ingredients after dicing and chopping the noodles into a bowl and add the meat paste.  Mix well. Adjust the seasoning to your liking with more or less fish sauce, salt, and sugar.

 

Peel the gourd and cucumber. Wash them dry. Cut in sections as shown in the photo and use a spoon to remove the seeds.  Hollow out the inside of the gourd and cucumber.

Stuff the meat paste mixture into the hole of the gourd and cucumber.

Place them on the bottom of a 5 to 6 quart crock pot. 

 Pour the kelp or chicken broth over the gourd in cucumber. Cover and let cook on the low setting for 6 to 7 hours.  Sprinkle with green onions before serving.