Hami melon

Cucumis melo · Melon

40 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 ripeThe prized state: dense, crunchy and very sweet. Cubes, batons and wedges that hold their shape — fruit plates, skewers, melon with cured ham.Buy it

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 to look for, from hard, green-netted, scentless to slack, weeping, boozy.

What one gives you

51%

Usable yield

about half · thick rind and seed net out

Keeping ittap a band

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.

Humidity

90%

The thick netted rind holds water well, so a whole melon needs no bag; weeks in dry air cost weight and the stem end shrivels first.

Airflow

Open, uncovered

Stand it uncovered with air all round and never seal it in plastic - the corky net sweats and moulds. Cover the cut faces instead, and keep them cold.

Makes it, and answers to it

Climacteric: it perfumes and softens off the vine, and makes enough ethylene to hurry leaves, cucumbers and unripe fruit along. Nothing sweetens it - the sugar is set at harvest.

Preparing