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Ridge gourd
Luffa acutangula · Fruit vegetable
40 pairings
Ridge gourd is the long, ribbed, dark-green immature fruit of the climbing vine Luffa acutangula, eaten as a tender vegetable across South and Southeast Asia. Mild, faintly sweet and spongy when cooked, it is the same plant whose mature fruit, left to dry, becomes the fibrous "loofah" bath sponge.
Picking a good onedrag
Slim, dark green, ridges sharpFibrous, or shrivelled and soft
Full sizeThe all-rounder: dal, curry, and chutney from the peeled-off ridges.Everyday best
Skin and ridgesGreen, ridges just blunting, skin still smooth
Weight and bendFirm, gives a little, still heavy in the hand
The two endsStem end dry but pale, blossom end still narrow
Snapped tipSnaps with a slight pull, flesh white, seeds pale
What to look for, from slim, dark green, ridges sharp to fibrous, or shrivelled and soft.
What one gives you
73%
Usable yield
178 g · ridges, skin, ends off
244 g
Typical weight
one specimen
Keeping ittap a band
Below 10 °C the skin discolours, watery lesions form under it and decay runs — the main fridge is colder than that.
Humidity
90-95%
Rated a high water-loss risk where its cousins are low, and the peel toughens as it dries — so keep the air damp around it.
Airflow
Loose perforated bag
Hold the damp air with a loose perforated bag, and pack it so nothing presses the ridges: a bruised rib leaks water and rots.
Makes almost none, but yellows in it
It gives off under 0.1 µL/kg/h at 20 °C, but ethylene from apples, bananas or tomatoes strips its green and drops its quality.