''Xi gua lao'' () is a traditional dish of Beijing cuisine. It is a thickened and chilled watermelon soup eaten in summer time.

Preparation

The dish is commonly prepared using these ingredients: watermelon,

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

agar Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from ogonori (''Gracilaria'') and "tengusa" (''Gelidiaceae''). As found in nature, agar is ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

and vanilla powder. Water is mixed with agar, vanilla powder and sugar and boiled into a syrup. The watermelon is crushed to get the juice out of it and mixed with the syrup. The mixture is then chilled until thick and served cold.

References

Beijing cuisine Chinese desserts Fruit dishes Watermelons Melon dishes {{China-cuisine-stub

Preparation

See also

References