The benefits of watermelon
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What watermelon does
What this vegetable does
It is said to clear excess heat and bring moisture to the body, settling a body worn down by the summer heat.
How to eat it
Chilled and eaten as it is, or as juice or a smoothie for something cooling.
A yakuzen note
Watermelon is said to clear heat from the body and to help with hydration. It is the fruit to suggest in the summer heat.
Watermelon is sweet and cold, a fruit held to settle the heat the summer puts into the body and to moisten a dry throat. Its juicy flesh and clean sweetness are what it is loved for, and it suits daily care when heat builds up in the body, or when you want something of the summer. Chilled and eaten as it is, or in juice, smoothies and salads, it is the gourd-family fruit that stands for summer.
TOC
When watermelon is in season, its types, and how to choose it
If you want to enjoy what watermelon does, it helps to know its season, its types and how to choose it. It is a gourd-family fruit in season in summer, loved for its vivid stripes and its juicy flesh.
In season in summer, a climbing gourd-family fruit
Watermelon belongs to the gourd family, like cucumber and melon, and what you eat is the fruit borne on the vine. It is in season in summer, around June to August, and strong sunlight brings up the sweetness. Kumamoto, Chiba and Yamagata are among the main growing areas, and the crop comes in from one region after another from early summer to the height of it. It is usually eaten chilled, but chilled too hard the sweetness is harder to taste, so two or three hours in the fridge before eating is about right. Its juicy flesh has long made it a fruit that goes down easily even in the heat.
Large, small and yellow-fleshed watermelons
Watermelon can be chosen by size and by the colour of the flesh.
| kinds | What stands out |
|---|---|
| Large watermelon | The most common. Striped, with red flesh. A crisp bite |
| Small watermelon | Small, with a thin rind. Fits the fridge, and suits a small household |
| Yellow-fleshed watermelon | A variety with yellow flesh. A clean sweetness, and good for colour |
For a crowd, a large watermelon gives you something to get through; for a small household, or when you want it in the fridge, a small one is handy. Yellow-fleshed watermelon looks good set next to red, with a clean sweetness of its own. Seedless watermelon saves you picking the seeds out, so choose by use and by taste and it shows its best.
How to choose it and how to cut it
When picking out a good watermelon, these are the things to look for.
- Clearly defined stripes, with a firm, glossy rind
- Heavy in the hand, with a clear note when you tap it lightly
- Cut pieces: an even colour to the flesh, with the seeds black and ripe
Keep a whole watermelon at room temperature somewhere cool and chill it two or three hours before eating, and the sweetness comes forward. Cut it radially and the sweeter centre is shared out evenly. If the seeds bother you, cutting along the lines where they sit makes them easier to remove. The white part of the rind can be sliced thin and used as well, so nothing but the flesh need go to waste.
How to eat watermelon
The juicy flesh and clean sweetness of a watermelon are good as they are, of course, and good in drinks and cooking. Here are the usual ways.
As it is, as juice and in smoothies
Watermelon is at its best chilled well and eaten as it is. Cut into wedges and bitten into, you get that juicy sweetness. Blended into juice, it makes a glass you can drink down on a hot day. Blended with other fruit and a pinch of salt into a smoothie, the sweetness comes forward. Crushed and frozen, it makes a sorbet, just the thing for a hot afternoon. Taking the seeds out before blending gives a smoother result.
In salads, and the rind as a light pickle
Watermelon can go into cooking as well. Cut into bite-sized pieces and combined with feta, mint and olive oil, it makes a summer salad where sweetness meets salt. A little salt on it brings the sweetness forward more still. The white part of the rind, usually thrown away, can be peeled of its hard green skin, sliced thin and rubbed with salt for a crunchy light pickle. It eats rather like cucumber and makes a fine palate cleanser. Flesh and rind alike, nothing is wasted.
How to keep watermelon
Keep a whole watermelon at room temperature somewhere cool out of direct sun and chill it before eating. Cut watermelon spoils easily, so cover the cut face tightly with film, keep it in the fridge and eat it soon. If you cannot finish it, cut it into bite-sized pieces, take out the seeds and freeze it, and half-thawed it eats like a sorbet. Blending the flesh into juice and freezing it in an ice tray is handy for smoothies and drinks. Chilled too hard the sweetness is harder to taste, so adjust the chilling to just before you eat.
Alongside this, one likewise held to settle summer heat and moisten a dry throat, The benefits of melon and a fellow gourd likewise held to cool heat in the body, The benefits of cucumber as a guide when building a summer table.
In season in summer, watermelon is a fruit whose juicy sweetness carries it from chilled and eaten as it is to juice, smoothies, salads and light pickles of the rind. Large for eating your fill, small for chilling easily, yellow-fleshed for colour: use each for the occasion and to taste and it shows its best. For daily care in the season when heat builds up, bring watermelon to the table.
