( Curucumis sativus )
Cucumber / Timun ( 青瓜 / 黄瓜 ) is a very common
fruit vegetable. Its very unlikely to get
it wrong.
Depending on variety, cucumber may
have a mild melon aroma, resulting from unsaturated aldehydes such as (E,Z)-nona-2,6-dienal, and the cis- and trans- isomers
of 2-nonenal. The slightly bitter taste of cucumber rind
results from cucurbitacins.
Matured ( old ) cucumber ( 老黄瓜) is used primarily in
Chinese cooking, especially in stewing soup. ( read old-cucumber-soup
)
Japanese cultivar of cucumber is used
in cucumber ( 日本小青瓜 ). it is longer, slender
and darker green in colour. It has mild
taste, crunchy, lesser seeds and thus widely used as salad.
Looks like cucumber, sounds like cucumber, but not cucumber ......
Labu Air / Bottle Gourd
（ Lagenaria siceraria ）
Bottle gourd ( 瓠子 / 节瓜 ) have a variety of shapes
and sizes. This particular variety has
cylindrical shapes, almost similar to a cucumber, only that it’s slightly
lighter in colour shorter and fatter. For
untrained eyes, it may be mistakenly taken as a cucumter !
Bottle gourd is cultivated by human
since beginning of time. It was believed
to be originated from Africa, carried to Asia and Europe via human migration
and trade.
It is usually consumed cooked – stir-fry
or soup.
Raw bottle gourd contains cucurbitacins that are cytotoxic at high concentrations. Tetracyclic
triterpenoid which caused the bitter taste, could cause stomach
ulcers. Thus it is not recommended to
consume bottle gourd raw or juiced.
Timun Bulu / Labu Bulu
（ Benincasa hispida var hispida ）
Timun bulu / Labu bulu （ 毛瓜 ）is a variety of Benincasa hispida ( 葫芦 ).
It looks like a furry cucumber, but
with slight different pattern on the skin.
They are sweet and succulent, almost similar to zucchini.
It is best cooked lightly : steamed or
stir-fried, or soup.
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