Hami melon
Cucumis melo · Melon
Top 10 pairings
Hami melon is a famously sweet, crisp, orange-fleshed muskmelon (Cucumis melo) grown in the hot, sun-drenched oases of Xinjiang in north-western China, where it takes its name from the city of Hami. Often called the "king of melons" in China, it has a firm, juicy flesh that stays crunchy even when fully ripe — a texture set apart from the soft, perfumed flesh of a Western cantaloupe.
Picking a good onedrag
Hard, green-netted, scentlessSlack, weeping, boozy
Firm ripeBuy itThe prized state: dense, crunchy and very sweet. Cubes, batons and wedges that hold their shape — fruit plates, skewers, melon with cured ham.
Net and ground colourNet raised and corky, ground warming
Blossom endBarely yields under a firm thumb
Stem stubStub drying, cut face pale
Smell at the blossom endFaint sweet melon right at the scar
What you get from one
51%
Edible part
about half · thick rind and seed net out
Keeping ittap a temperature
Below about 5 C the rind pits and water-soaks and the flavour flattens; trials cold-storing it at 3 C report clear chilling injury. A cool larder, not the coldest shelf.
90%
Humidity
Open, uncovered
Airflow