Chameh, Korean melon

[Pat Hammond]

I bought this lovely yellow melon at a local farmer's market. I thought for sure it was a squash, until I asked. It's pear-shaped and the flesh is the color of pear. It's mildly flavored, hinting at both watermelon and cantaloupe. I'm not sure mine was ripe enough eat, but eat it I did, seeds and all. I'll buy another and this time leave it out until it softens up a little.

[bitsubeats]

is that the melon thats striped with yellow and white? You ate the seeds????? I always throw those in the trash : (

[vttp926]

i wonder if it looks similar to the melon photo i uploaded. there is one that i know a lot of people grow that looks very similar but it is green rather then yellow. the way we eat it is that we cut the melon in half, scoop out all the seeds to discard and then add a little bit of sugar and ice to it. makes it into a wonderful sweet and icy dessert.

[Pat Hammond]

Yes, mine looks very similar to that, but more pear shaped, i.e. fat at the bottom and more narrow toward the top. It's a paler color, but that may just mean it's not completely ripe, The woman I bought it from said I could eat the seeds and the gelatin-like substance around them. I'll have to try adding ice. Thanks for the reply!

[vttp926]

yea it just varies from melon to melon. i seen many that are pear shape and some that are the perfect from top to bottom. just in my family we never eaten the seeds, but the gelatin-like substance is what makes it so nice and icy when you add the ice to it.

[jpmcdnj]

i've eaten it my whole life and never think it tastes ripe enough...but it's just how it tastes!

[bitsubeats]

it tastes exactly like slightly sweet cucumber. yum

[Miss Needle]

That's a great description of the melon, which is probably why I've always hated it. Not the biggest fan of cucumber.

[choctastic]

We eat the seeds too. I did not want to do so as a child but now I just suck it up (literally and figuratively). The sweet part is in the seeds unfortunately. While I've had the melon all my life (hell I even grow them!), can't say I'm the biggest fan. I'd rather have a watermelon any day of the week. (don't tell my family)

[augustiner]

i agree. i've never understood why koreans loved this fruit, but i smile and eat it when it's served after dinner. i always wondered if the vast majority of these melons were sold underripe, due to industrial farming, but apparently not. i'm glad, at any rate, to know that i'm not the only person of korean descent that would rather eat something else.

although admittedly i sometimes have problems with melons. for several years i couldn't eat watermelon without feeling ill and nauseated, for no known reason. now i can eat it just fine.

[bitsubeats]

yup, watermelon is way better and was always more expensive in korea that korean honeydew.

mmmm ice cold watermelon eaten on one of those outdoor tables (the ones you sit on) on a summer night is pure heaven.

[Monica]

I remember eating seeds as they were the sweetest part of the melon. They are edible and they are not as hard as seeds in cantaloupe.
They can be very sweet if you buy the right ones but you just gotta be lucky.