There are a couple of ladies who sell cantaloupes and watermelons at a stall in the Nasugbu market. More often than not, I pass on their offerings, having purchased several tasteless cantaloupes in the past. But a few weeks ago, I seemed drawn to some MASSIVE watermelons they had on offer, and they had sliced one open to show another customer the contents that looked very promising. I stopped and tried to pick up one of the melons and was stunned by it’s density/weight… After a bit of bargaining, I took home a 7-8 kilo watermelon for PHP230 or $6.
After a lunch of grilled seafood, we cut several large slices of watermelon and served them over crushed ice. These slices must have been some 16 inches across! The fruit was perfectly ripe, incredibly juicy but mushy. Sweet and refreshing.
The Teen was trying to get some close up photos of the watermelon slices, and this shot gives you an idea just how big the slices were!
Most of the guests refused to tackle the full slices like this one, and cut them into two pieces instead… I ate a whole slice. :) The watermelon was so massive that even after some 12-14 slices, over a third of the fruit still remained…
…which we turned into the most amazing watermelon shakes the next day!
26 Responses
Refreshing indeed. The watermelon is my favorite summer fruit. Too bad they’re kinda expensive here in Metro Manila.
Just what we need here at the moment! It has been 43 C degrees + the past 4 days and we’re looking forward to tomorrow which will be 26 C.
Btw,watched you with Bobby Chin again last night on Foxtel.
MM, that’s a refreshing post on China’s most favorite fruit. Why favorite? Coz it’s cheap daw. There’s also the yellow and oblong Formosa watermelon around. I bought one at P40/kg of P90 for the piece that I picked. It is sweet and it would look equally attractive as a yellow shake.
Here’s a short anecdote on the watermelon in a recent workshop I conducted in Guilin, China. On the topic, moderating focus group discussions (FGD), I asked the Chinese participants how to make some dominant participants quiet in a focus group. The answer: give them watermelon. The next day, we went to a village to try out their new FGD skills and each group carried a watermelon to be served during the FGD. But eating a slice of watermelon didn’t stop the Chinese farmers from talking at the same time.
may kids love it,kaya sa hypermart Sm , binibili ko yung nakaslices na,para sure ako mapula na sya talaga… Good day MM
i love sta. rosa, do you shop at hypermart sm at clark? i like to shop there when
i am there. it’s so clean…
Watermelon is abundant here in davao, its Php4- php10/kilo.. and its a healthy and refreshing food snacks.. my toddler love it too.
cooool!
we sometimes grill watermelon, especially if we get one that isn’t that sweet. we just drizzle some honey over it and pop it on the grill, maybe less than a minute. it’s pretty good too.
Try adding watermelon chunks to a mesclun salad with vinaigrette and feta cheese. Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!
“Pakwan” is here, can summer be far behind?
another sexy red (the colour is incredible). watermelon smoothie with ice cream, yummy!
i love pakwan!!!
I have a very nurturing friend who serves watermelon, seeded and cut in bite sizes to pick/ peck on in a large bowl for an effortless pleasurable eating by her guests. What a friend!
ConnieC, what a great idea, I have to admit the seeds can be a bit of a bummer in polite company! Lex, I keep seeing that unusual combination of watermelon and feta, I have to try it soon. emsy, cool, I would never have thought to grill watermelon. moni, I am curious how your seminar participants handled the seeds…
Is it summer already?
MM, hopefully, Moni’s farmers didn’t collect the seeds to make into pakwan!!! hehehehe
Wow, that’s one big watermelon. I eat watermelon for cleansing, every morning for about 2 weeks. Then I eat the sinfully good meat again hehehehehe.
hi mm, a silent follower.i’m also in nasugbu market every sunday to do the marketing for the whole week.might chance upon you sometime.well hopefully.
but anyways,how about a nasugbu grill off eyeball on summer!with grilled seafoods,bbq pork and lotsa watermelon.
This salad with watermelon, mesclun, vinaigrette and feta is served in that Italian restaurant at D’ Mall in Boracay. It was easy to decipher and replicate and utterly refreshing.
MM,the farmers just spat out the seeds on the floor. They also carried the watermelon around using a nylon straw net, like a net for a brand new basketball. Artisan, the Chinese seem to prefer sunflower seeds to butong pakwan. Dried sunflower seeds are easier to crack open.
I came across a suggestion for bland melons/watermelons – pickle them. It sounded weird, but tried it anyway, and I have to say it’s a good way to turn something from “meh” to pretty darn good. Of course it’s not something you can eat right away, but a couple of hours did the trick with a simple salt-vinegar solution, plus I added some chilli peppers and black peppercorns.
2 years ago, i was succesfful in growing a myriad of colors of watermelon. ….golden yellow, dark orange, marbled orange and yellow though it was more pastel shade, and the red ones. Then my East Indian neighbour taught me how they serve watermelon which is soooooo good! ..cubed in placed in a tall pitcher, added some simple syrup, a splash of rose water (a staple in her house) and squirt of calamansi(or lemon or lime). My son tried it with milk but I much prefer it without milk so it is soooo eye appealing in the clear glass!!!! The rainbow colored cubed watermelon thirst quencher was a hit that all of my rainbow watermelon was gone the next day.
needless to say, if we are going to have a really hot summer, these rainbow colored watermelon seeds will once again find its way in the ground!
Hello Marketman and the rest of the Pilipinos that loves our Kakanin.This is about the Budbud Kabog,in my place where i grow up-Macrohon So.Leyte,we make this wonderful Kakanin at Christmas time or on special occasions.I myself made it with my sisters and cousin’s it was pass on by our Ancestor’s who loves cooking.
We call it Budbud Dawa(kabog or Millet),your procedure is right Marketman,its perfect.One thing you missed is the very important ingredient.its the Anis(Seed-you toast it first in a small frying fan for 3 seconds or untill you can smell the aroma of the millet).Then you grind those and mix it when you cook the millet together with the coconut milk(Katas nang niyong).Without the Anis your Budbud is incompete,you also mix that with the Biko,but not with the Suman,the Suman’s important ingredient is the Ginger(Luya).
Now,while preparing the banana leaves for wrapping the Budbud,you wilt the banana leaves right,use your sheadded remaining niyog after the Katas was taken,use it to rub the Banana leaves and wipe the leaves with clean tea towel,then your ready for wrapping.The main purpose for those procedure of the leaves is to make the Budbud soo shinny and attractive.
I notice in your picture of the Budbud,it is okey… but if its shinny its more than okey,thats how our grandmother always remind us ,keep your leaves shinny and your Budbud be sold out faster than the rest.
Hope i had help you improvise the Budbud that we are crazy off,i am teaching my friends here in Canada about our very precious Kakanin.I admire you for making this Etnic recipe,it needs patient and time,but the labor of love of making this is soo rewarding cause you can eat more than the others can,because you are the one doing it.
Keep up the good work,we are proud of you,my Heirloom Budbud recipe wasn’t even written,but i only picture it in my mind.I used to help my 2 big sisters making those and my eyes is close cause its too late at night,but wev’e got to finish those wrapping untill dawn,and i feel asleep on our table,my 2 sister will wake me up to go to bed,cause i was just 8 years old at that time.Now i’m 63,those were my sweet memories,i treasure it in my mind.
Clara Canta Simpson
From:Canada
Originally:
Sto.Rosario,Macrohon So.Leyte
Philippines
This is one of the recipes with watermelon and feta. This is Nigella Lawson’s recipe from Forever Summer. It really sounds like a strange combination but each time I serve this, everyone asks for the recipe.
1 small red onion
2-4 limes, depending on juiciness
1.5 kilo sweet, ripe watermelon
250g feta cheese
bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
bunch fresh mint, chopped
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
100g pitted black olives
black pepper
Peel and halve the red onion and cut into very fine half moons and put in a small bowl to steep with the lime juice to bring out their transparent pinkness.Remove the rind and pips from the watermelon, and cut into 4cm chunks.Cut the feta into similar size pieces and put them both into a large,shallow bowl.Tear off sprigs of parsley to use as a salad leaf and add to the bowl along with the chopped mint.Tip the onions,along with their juices over the salad, add the oil and olives and toss very gently so that the feta and melon do not lose their shape. Add black pepper and taste to see whether it needs more lime.
Serves 8
Hmm. I love watermelon with fresh mint.
Ohh, i love frozen watermelon it’s so good..
hi guys we grow watermelon here in Pilar,Bataan, Philippines below the rolling hills of mt samat planting during the rainy season in June and harvesting it around end of August or early september. We plant the KANEKO variety and its so sweet compared to other places like pampanga or pangasinan. it has a long life in the shelves. i am one of the avid growers because im an engineer by profession but i love farming. we have so much harvest now this time because of the good weather and not so many typhoon coming yet to our place but our biggest problem now is where to to sell the watermelons. not so many traders are coming now to buy our watermelons so we have big problem where to sell our good harvest. i hope some guys there will be interested in buying our products. just contact me on my cp no. 09206336030