Cucumbers are obviously green, why do they call them cucumbers instead of green melons?

Fruits and vegetables, cucumbers are the most popular. Every summer, a delicious and cool cucumber salad is always appreciated by everyone. The method is simple, no need to fry, fry, fire, or even cut vegetables. As long as you have a large Chinese kitchen knife, you can make cucumbers. come out.

Everyone is used to calling it cucumber. Have you ever wondered why this thing is obviously green on the outside, why it is called cucumber all the year round instead of green melon? Some people say that people in some parts of Guangdong will call cucumbers cucumbers, so where does the name of cucumbers come from?

The cucumber in Cantonese refers to the dark green tender cucumber, which is the most common cucumber variety in the market. This is a melon seed that has only been planted in the past ten years. The taste is crisp and delicious, with fewer seeds, suitable for eating raw, and the shape of the melon is slender and slender.

The more traditional cucumber varieties in China are chubby in the shape of a melon, a bit like a loofah, and the flesh of the melon is soft when squeezed. The color of this cucumber variety is not dark green, but slightly yellowish, and turns orange when fully mature.

The reason why it is said to be more traditional is that cucumbers are not a local specialty of China from the beginning, but come from the Western Regions, and they were originally called "cucumbers". During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, since the word "Hu" was banned, Shi Le, who was in power at that time, wanted to test Fan Tan, the governor of Xiangguo County, so he deliberately pointed at Hugua and asked its name.

Fan Tan, the county governor of Xiangguo, knew that this was an intentional question from Shi Le, and replied respectfully, "Cucumber." It has been handed down until modern times.

That's why cucumbers are given the color "yellow", the color of fully ripe traditional cucumbers. Everyone eats raw and cold cucumbers, which are still immature. The taste is still green. The smell of grass-like cucumbers when you cut the cucumbers proves that the cucumbers we often eat are immature.

Cucumbers that grow to full maturity, or even "old" cucumbers, are not common in most parts of China. There is only one place where people particularly prefer old cucumbers, and that is Guangdong. In Guangdong and Hong Kong, old cucumber is a common soup ingredient, and you can order this soup in an old soup shop.

Because the texture of cucumbers has become soft, it is not suitable for eating raw and cooking. The old cucumbers are peeled and seeded, cut into strips to make soup, and the soup is sweet and delicious. In addition, the old cucumber is rich in cucurbitacin and has high nutritional value, so it is often cooked with pork bones to make a beautiful soup.

There is also a melon similar to cucumber, bitter gourd. It is commonly seen that it is green in appearance and has a bitter taste. But when the bitter gourd is fully ripe, the taste is sweet, the color of the melon is golden, and the seeds inside turn into bright red, which is also an uncommon appearance.

It seems that modern people are particularly fond of these immature melons. They feel that the immature melons are green and crisp and taste better. But those who have eaten old cucumbers and fully ripe bitter melons know that fully ripe melons have their own unique taste and texture, and are no worse than immature melons.

It is a pity that traditional cucumber varieties are rare now. If you don't have your own cucumbers, or go to the Guangdong area, it is difficult to taste the traditional old cucumbers.