Stir-fried Chayotes for Dinner

Stir-fried chayotes with red peppers for dinner

We were recently gifted some chayotes from a doctor whose patient had grown them. These palm-shaped vegetables were dark green and had lots of prickles on the outside; usually the outer skin is a bit tough and has to be peeled, but not with prickles that could be painful to handle!

Chayotes originated from South America, between southern Mexico and Honduras. This vegetable belongs to the gourd family, which includes cucumbers and squash.

Ours were dark green like these ones and prickly

A chef from Venezuela who has a Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong serving South American cuisine was thrilled to find chayotes in the wet markets, as home-cooked soups and stews typically include this green gourd.

It can also be chopped thinly and eaten raw in salads, and stir-fried or steamed too. I have pickled them before, adapting a recipe for smashed cucumbers.

In Cantonese cooking it's usually added to soups or stir-fried, and I had a left over red pepper so I decided to cook them together for a vegetable dish for dinner.

To prepare these prickly chayotes, I donned a pair of dishwashing gloves and used a cloth to pick them up and peel them with a peeler which wasn't too difficult to do. Any areas I could not reach I used a knife to carve out the tough skin.

Then I sliced the chayotes in half and then quarters before chopping them into diagonal slices, including the seed in the middle which is edible.

Chayotes can be eaten in many ways

Once the oil in the wok was hot, I added shallots, garlic and ginger, then the sliced chayote and red pepper. After a quick stir, I added a bit of water and some chicken stock I had in the fridge before turning down the heat and put the lid on the wok so that the vegetables could steam and cook.

After around 10 minutes when the chayote was tender, I added a bit of salt to taste and then the vegetables were done.

The chayotes hold their shape and taste sweet, the red pepper even sweeter! They also made for a colourful dish too.