Seasonal Wisdom: Your Guide To Gourds And More At Li Bai

This July, Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant — Singapore’s award-winning fine dining Chinese restaurant at Sheraton Towers — presents Seasonal Wisdom • An Epicurean Celebration of Gourds (不时不食·时令瓜馔): seven à la carte seasonal gourd dishes rooted in Cantonese tradition and refined by Hong Kong culinary mastery. Each dish takes its cue from one of Chinese culture’s most enduring principles — 不时不食 (bù shí bù shí): eat only what is in season. Winter melon, angled luffa, old cucumber, pumpkin and more; each at their July finest, each given the care that has defined Li Bai’s kitchen for four decades.

What Are Gourds? A Culinary Family of Ancient Standing

Gourds “瓜” (guā) belong to the Cucurbitaceae family — a vast botanical clan encompassing squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, luffas, and melons. Its round, generous form has made it a classical symbol of abundance, posterity, and good fortune in Chinese culture. In Chinese cuisine, gourds hold a place of honour, particularly during the summer months when they reach their peak of flavour and nutritional value. Their sheer versatility — across soups, braises, stir-fries, steamed preparations, and the ancient art of stuffing — has made them foundational to Cantonese cooking for centuries. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), many gourds are classified as yin “阴” (yīn) — cooling foods that counterbalance the heat of summer and support the body through the hottest months of the year. Their high water content and cooling properties make them nature’s ideal remedy for the heat and humidity of the season.

The gourds featured in our July promotion include:

• Winter Melon “冬瓜” (dōng guā)

• Yellow Gourd / Old Cucumber “老黄瓜” (lǎo huáng guā)

• Angled Luffa “胜瓜”(shèng guā)

• Pumpkin “南瓜” (nán guā)

• Zucchini “翠玉瓜” (cuì yù guā)

Note on Eggplant “茄子” (qié zi):While eggplant (Solanum melongena) belongs to the nightshade family (Solanaceae) rather than the gourd family, it has been embraced in Chinese culinary tradition alongside gourds for its summer-season availability and remarkable ability to absorb flavours. In the spirit of不时不食, we celebrate it as a seasonal treasure worthy of the table.

The Gourds of Li Bai’s Seasonal Wisdom: A Guide

Winter Melon “冬瓜” (Dōng Guā)

Featured in: Double-boiled Duck Soup with Winter Melon, Lotus Leaf & Pearl Barley; Braised Winter Melon with Premium Dried Shrimps

Deceptively named, Winter Melon, also known as ash gourd or wax gourd, is a summer crop — harvested in the warm months and traditionally consumed precisely because of its extraordinary cooling properties. Its white, almost translucent flesh is mild and absorbent, and therein lies its genius: it becomes a vessel for stronger flavours, drawing them in with quiet fidelity while maintaining its own delicate structure. In traditional Cantonese cooking, winter melon soup — a light, nourishing broth with pork ribs or chicken—is a staple in Southern Chinese households.

The most revered classical preparation is the Double Boiled Winter Melon Soup “冬瓜盅” (dōng guā zhōng) — a Cantonese imperial dish, beloved during the Qing Dynasty, in which soup is double-boiled inside a carved winter melon, sometimes decorated with intricate relief work for grand banquets. The result is a slow-simmered, clear, and naturally sweet broth. Now a staple in Southern Chinese households, the modernised version is often boiled together with pork ribs or chicken for added nourishment. 

Li Bai’s menu expresses winter melon in two distinct ways. The Double-boiled Duck Soup with Winter Melon, Lotus Leaf & Pearl Barley follows the slow-boiled Cantonese pou tong tradition “煲汤” (bāo tāng). The process of slow cooking lasts a few hours, allowing the winter melon to naturally sweeten the soup. The Braised Winter Melon with Premium Dried Shrimps is an elevated version of the classic home-style dish — the concentrated marine umami of the shrimps infusing the melon with depth that its mild flesh alone could never achieve. Here, premium-grade dried shrimps reframe a humble dish as a fine dining offering.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), winter melon is prescribed to reduce heatiness (yeet hay), promote hydration, and support kidney function — making it one of the most medically grounded ingredients in the summer Cantonese kitchen.

Yellow Gourd / Old Cucumber “老黄瓜” (Lǎo Huáng Guā) 

Featured in: Double Boiled Golden Melon Soup with Seafood

The old cucumber is one of Cantonese cuisine’s most quietly profound ingredients, and one that is frequently misunderstood by those encountering it for the first time. It is not a separate species, but the fully matured form of the familiar green cucumber (Cucumis sativus) — left on the vine until its smooth green skin transitions to a crinkled, amber-gold. This transformation concentrates its flavour, softens its flesh, and converts it into an ideal candidate for long, slow cooking.

In Cantonese, it is called Lou Wong Kua — “old yellow gourd” — a name that acknowledges its age and its colour in a single breath. The yellow-gold hue of its mature skin is precisely where the “golden melon” in Li Bai’s dish title originates. A no-frills use of the yellow gourd is Old Cucumber Pork Bone Soup “老黄瓜猪骨汤” (lǎo huáng guā zhū gǔ tāng): earthy, slightly sweet, with a depth that reflects hours of patient simmering.

At Li Bai Singapore, theDouble Boiled Golden Melon Soup with Seafoodis a luxurious creation combining two gourds — yellow gourd and angled luffa — for a symphony of textures and flavours. Our chefs double-boil them with premium seafood using the revered Cantonese dun “炖” (dùn) technique. The dun method, in which food is cooked slowly within a sealed vessel set over simmering water, is the most gentle of all Cantonese cooking approaches: it coaxes flavour from every ingredient, creating a soup of extraordinary clarity and depth. The old cucumber provides earthiness and body; the luffa contributes freshness and a silky sweetness; the seafood perfumes the entire preparation with its natural ocean character.

It is, among the seven dishes of this promotion, perhaps the most inventive: a reimagining of the imperial winter melon soup tradition, translated through two different gourds and the finest seafood.

Angled Luffa “胜瓜 / 丝瓜” (Shèng Guā / Sī Guā)

Featured in: Double Boiled Golden Melon Soup with Seafood; Steamed Angled Luffa with Glass Noodles and ‘Live’ Prawn

The angled luffa, also known as silk gourd, and Chinese okra, is recognisable by the ridges that run the full length of its body — a structural detail that gives it its Chinese name “sī guā”, for the threads of fibre visible when the ridges are peeled away. When harvested young, its flesh is silky, gently sweet, and possessed of a sponge-like quality that makes it one of the most flavour-receptive gourds in the kitchen.

In Cantonese cooking, Luffa with Glass Noodles “丝瓜粉丝” (sī guā fěn sī) is a home kitchen staple — typically prepared with dried shrimp, whose umami saturates the gourd and the translucent noodles alike. Li Bai’s Steamed Angled Luffa with Glass Noodles and ‘Live’ Prawn honours this heritage while elevating it: ‘live’ prawn replaces the traditional dried shrimp; its natural sweetness soaking through both the luffa and glass noodles from within as they steam together. The technique, too, is more refined — steaming “蒸” (zhēng) is one of Cantonese cuisine’s most trusted techniques for preserving the integrity of delicate ingredients.

A note for the curious: left on the vine until fully mature, the luffa’s inner flesh dries into the fibrous skeleton we know as the loofah bath sponge — a fact that often surprises first-time cooks who meet it.

Pumpkin “南瓜” (Nán Guā)

Featured in: Braised Pork Soft Bone with Pumpkin

Pumpkin arrived in China through trade routes centuries ago, but was adopted so thoroughly into Cantonese cooking that its provenance is rarely remembered. Its sweet, dense, slightly starchy flesh pairs naturally with pork — a combination that has anchored countless family dinners and found its way into the restaurant’s permanent menu, in the form of Black Truffle Poached Seafood Dumpling in Pumpkin Soup “黑松露海味灌汤饺” (hēi sōng lù hǎi wèi guàn tāng jiǎo), and Seafood Soup in Mini Pumpkin “南瓜海鲜盅” (nán guā hǎi xiān zhōng). 

Li Bai’s Braised Pork Soft Bone with Pumpkin takes a dual-pumpkin approach to this classic pairing. Chinese tropical pumpkin is pureed and braised directly with the pork soft bone; its natural sweetness slowly permeating the cartilaginous, yielding meat over gentle heat. The braise arrives served inside a hollowed Bei Bei mini pumpkin — also known as chestnut pumpkin — its dense, nutty flesh is there for the taking as guests dig into both vessel and filling at once. Two varieties, two preparations: the full range of what pumpkin can be, in a single dish.

Zucchini “翠玉瓜” (Cuì Yù Guā)

Featured in: Stuffed Zucchini with Dried Scallop and Abalone

While zucchini is more commonly associated with Western cuisine, it has found a welcome place in Chinese kitchens. Of all the dishes on this menu, the Stuffed Zucchini with Dried Scallop and Abalone is perhaps the one most deeply embedded in Cantonese culinary tradition. The art of stuffing vegetables with premium seafood and meats —yong “酿” (niàng) in Cantonese — is ancient, and traces its lineage through stuffed tofu, stuffed bitter melon, and the iconic street food tradition of the Three Fried Stuffed Treasures “煎酿三宝” (jiān niàng sān bǎo). It is one of the most characteristically Cantonese of all cooking techniques: gourds, eggplants, mushrooms or vegetable becomes a vessel; the filling carries the flavour; and the two, cooked together, become more than either could achieve alone.

At Li Bai, the zucchini’s mild, clean-flavoured cavity is filled with two of Cantonese cuisine’s most prized preserved and luxury ingredients: Dried Scallop, with its concentrated sweetness and oceanic depth, and Abalone, prized for its yielding texture and its association with celebratory Cantonese dining across generations. The result is a dish of luxurious restraint — gourd and sea, simplicity and extravagance, in the balance that Cantonese fine dining does best. By using zucchini as the vessel for dried scallop and abalone, our culinary team pays homage to this time-honoured tradition.

Eggplant “茄子” (qié zi)

While eggplant is not a gourd, it is a summer favourite that deserves its place in this celebration. It is no stranger to Cantonese cuisine. Part of the Three Fried Stuffed Treasures, it is also found in dishes like Fish-fragrant Eggplant “鱼香茄子” (yú xiāng qié zi). Despite its name, the Sichuan original contains no fish. By adding dried or preserved salted fish in the seasoning, the “fish flavour” is then stir-fried with eggplants, aromatics and thickened with corn starch, before serving in a clay pot. OurGrilled Eggplant with Stuffed Scallopis acontemporary variationon the classic Stuffed Eggplant — instead of the traditional minced pork filling, we use premium scallop, and instead of deep-frying or steaming, we grill it for a smoky, caramelised finish.

Beyond the Menu: The Wider World of Culinary Gourds

Li Bai’s Seasonal Wisdom promotion introduces five gourds and one honorary seasonal companion. But the gourd family extends further still — and the Chinese culinary tradition has found ways to celebrate almost every member of it. What follows is a guide to gourds you may encounter beyond this menu, along with the traditional dishes they have inspired.

Hairy Gourd / Fuzzy Melon “毛瓜 / 节瓜” (Máo Guā / Jié Guā)

A short, burly, furry-skinned gourd with a soft, white flesh that cooks down beautifully in soups and braises, releasing a mild, sweet flavour in the process. Its fine surface hairs give it its English name; its Cantonese name jit gua, translates as “seasonal gourd” — as apt a name as any ingredient could carry in the context of “不时不食”. These gourds possesses slightly sweet flavour similar to winter melon, making them excellent with the same pairings: dried shrimp, glass noodles, pork, and preserved seafood.

Traditional Cantonese dish: Hairy Gourd with Glass Noodles and Dried Shrimp “节瓜粉丝虾米” (jié guā fěn sī xiā mǐ) | Hairy Gourd Soup with Dried Scallops “节瓜瑶柱汤” (jié guā yáo zhù tāng) 

Bitter Gourd “苦瓜 / 涼瓜” (Kǔ Guā / Liáng Guā)

Bitter gourd is, for the uninitiated palate, a challenge. For those who have acquired the taste, it is one of the most refreshing vegetables in any summer kitchen. In TCM, it is believed to reduce body heat, support blood sugar regulation, benefit the liver, and assist digestion. 

Traditional Cantonese dish: Stir-fried Bitter Melon with Beef “苦瓜炒牛肉” (kǔ guā chǎo niú ròu) | Bitter Melon and Pork Spare Rib Soup “苦瓜排骨汤” (kǔ guā pái gǔ tāng)

Sponge Gourd “丝瓜 / 水瓜” (Sī Guā / Shuǐ Guā)

The smooth-skinned counterpart to the angled luffa, the sponge gourd is cylindrical and ridge-free, with a mild, slightly sweet flavour and a silky, yielding texture when cooked. Like the angled luffa, it is harvested young for culinary use; left to mature fully, its inner flesh dries into the familiar loofah. It is especially complementary to eggs and fresh seafood, absorbing surrounding flavours with great readiness. In Southeast Asia, the sponge gourd is commonly stir-fried with eggs and dried shrimp, a preparation that is quick, satisfying, and deeply homely in the best sense. Steamed with sesame oil and light soy sauce, it requires nothing more.

Traditional Cantonese dish: Steamed Luffa with Glass Noodles “粉丝蒸丝瓜” (fěn sī zhēng sī guā) | Steamed Sponge Gourd with Garlic “蒜蓉丝瓜” (suàn róng sī guā)

Bottle Gourd / Calabash “葫芦瓜” (Hú Lu Guā)

Their iconic double-sphere silhouette is one of the most recognisable shapes in Chinese art and iconography, symbolising prosperity and the harmony of heaven and earth. The calabash has been used as a water vessel, a musical instrument, and a food source across human civilisations for thousands of years. These gourds are mild, slightly sweet, and cooked in Chinese kitchens much like zucchini or winter melon — in soups, stir-fries, and simple braises. 

Traditional Cantonese dish: Bottle Gourd with Dried Shrimp “葫芦瓜炒虾米” (hú lú guā chǎo xiā mǐ) 

Chayote “佛手瓜” (Fó Shǒu Guā)

Native to Mexico, the chayote was adopted into Chinese cooking and has been thoroughly assimilated into the world of Cantonese cooking. Crunchy, pale green, and pleasantly mild, it is cooling in TCM classification and a good source of folate and fibre. It is excellent in soups and stir-fries, where its crunchy-when-raw, tender-when-cooked texture adds a welcoming contrast. 

Traditional Cantonese dish: Chayote with Shredded Pork “佛手瓜炒猪肉丝” (fó shǒu guā chǎo zhū ròu sī) 

Snake Gourd “蛇瓜” (Shé Guā)

The snake gourd is dramatically elongated — sometimes reaching 150 centimetres — and its immature fruit has distinct green-and-white stripes. Only the young fruits are used culinarily; the mature gourd becomes fibrous and bitter. It is more commonly encountered in Indian and Southeast Asian cooking than in mainstream Chinese cuisine, but does appear in regional Chinese dishes as a soup vegetable and stir-fry ingredient. Its curling, sinuous form made it an object of botanical fascination long before it reached the kitchen.

Traditional Cantonese dish: Stir-fried Snake Gourd with Black Bean and Ginger “豆豉剁姜炒蛇瓜” (dòu chǐ duò jiāng chǎo shé guā)

A Table Set for the Season

Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant has been an emblem of Chinese fine dining in Singapore since 1985 — named for the greatest poet of the Tang Dynasty, set with imperial jade and silver, and guided by a culinary philosophy that places the finest ingredients above all else. The restaurant’s Executive Chinese Chef Chung Yiu Ming and his team work within a Hong Kong culinary mastery tradition that prizes restraint, technique, and the natural voice of each ingredient.

This July, we invite you to embark on an epicurean journey through the world of gourds. Each dish in the Seasonal Wisdom • An Epicurean Celebration of Gourds promotion has been crafted with the same dedication to excellence that has defined our restaurant for nearly four decades. From the delicate sweetness of winter melon to the robust character of pumpkin, from the refreshing crunch of angled luffa to the luxurious richness of stuffed zucchini with abalone—every bite is a testament to the artistry of Cantonese cuisine and the wisdom of eating with the seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a gourd?

A gourd is a fruit produced by flowering vines in the plant family Cucurbitaceae — one of the oldest cultivated plant families in the world. The family includes winter melon, cucumber, pumpkin, luffa, zucchini, bitter melon, hairy gourd, and chayote, among many others. Most gourds are characterised by high water content, mild flesh, and an exceptional ability to absorb the flavours of whatever they are cooked with. In Chinese culinary culture, gourds “瓜” (guā) are among the most widely used vegetables, valued both for their flavour and their medicinal properties in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Is eggplant / brinjal a gourd?

No. Despite its frequent presence alongside gourds in Chinese cooking, eggplant (Solanum melongena) belongs to the Solanaceae (nightshade) family — botanically closer to tomatoes, potatoes, and capsicum than to any gourd. True gourds belong to the Cucurbitaceae family. Eggplant is technically classified as a berry. That said, it has shared the Cantonese summer kitchen with gourds for centuries, and its inclusion in seasonal vegetable promotions is a reflection of culinary tradition rather than botanical taxonomy.

Why is winter melon eaten in summer if it’s called “winter melon”?

The name can be confusing, but winter melon “冬瓜” (dōng guā) is very much a summer crop. It gets its name from a different quality: its ability to be stored through the winter without refrigeration — a waxy coating on its skin allows mature winter melons to remain shelf-stable for months. As a food, however, winter melon is best consumed in summer, precisely because of its cooling, hydrating properties. In TCM, it is classified as a yin (cold/cooling) food that reduces internal body heat — making it one of the most seasonally appropriate vegetables of the hot months.

What does “不时不食” mean?

“不时不食” (bù shí bù shí) is a Confucian principle recorded in the Analects “论语” (lùn yǔ), Chapter 10, meaning “if not in season, do not eat.” It is one of the earliest and most enduring expressions of seasonal eating philosophy in Chinese culture — predating the modern farm-to-table movement by over two thousand years. The principle holds that food consumed at its natural peak — in its proper season — is more nourishing, more flavourful, and more aligned with the body’s needs than food eaten out of season. It remains a guiding philosophy in traditional Cantonese cooking.

What is old cucumber / yellow gourd “老黄瓜” (lǎo huáng guā)?

Old cucumber, or lou wong kua (老黄瓜), is not a separate species but the fully matured form of the common green cucumber (Cucumis sativus). When left on the vine to ripen fully, the cucumber’s skin transitions from smooth green to a crinkled amber-gold — and its flavour deepens considerably, becoming earthier and sweeter. This maturation makes it ideal for long, slow cooking. In Cantonese cuisine, old cucumber is most famously used in slow-boiled soups “煲汤” (bāo tāng), where it contributes a distinctive depth and natural sweetness that the young cucumber simply cannot offer.

Is luffa the same as a loofah? Can you actually eat it?

Yes — they are the same plant. The luffa gourd (both the angled luffa and the smooth sponge gourd) is edible when harvested young and tender. At this stage, its flesh is silky, mildly sweet, and ideal for steaming, stir-frying, or slow cooking in soups. Left to fully mature and dry on the vine, the flesh breaks down and the fibrous inner skeleton becomes the familiar loofah bath sponge. The window for eating luffa is specific — young and fresh — which is part of what makes it a perfectly seasonal ingredient.

Why do Cantonese people eat seasonal food? What is the philosophy behind it?

Seasonal eating is central to Cantonese culinary identity and has been for centuries. Cantonese cooking naturally follows the seasons — certain vegetables, herbs, and seafoods are best enjoyed at specific times of the year, and there is a deep respect for eating foods when they are at their peak. This tradition is reinforced by Traditional Chinese Medicine, which classifies foods by their thermal properties — cooling (yin) foods are prescribed in summer to counterbalance heat, and warming (yang) foods in winter. Eating seasonally is not just a flavour preference in Cantonese culture; it is understood as eating in harmony with the body and with nature.

What are cooling (yin) foods in Chinese cuisine, and why are gourds recommended in summer?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, foods are classified by their effect on the body’s internal temperature. Cooling or yin foods are believed to reduce excess body heat, support hydration, and counterbalance the effects of hot weather. Winter melon is considered a yin food in traditional Chinese medicine — it has a cooling, neutralising effect within the body, helps refresh the body, and is valued for its ability to soothe stomach discomfort and digestive complaints. Most gourds — including winter melon, angled luffa, old cucumber, bitter melon, and hairy gourd — fall into this cooling category, which is precisely why they feature so prominently in summer Cantonese menus. Bitter melons help to expel summer heat, reduce inflammation, and are rich in vitamin C, iron, and fibre.

What is the difference between angled luffa and sponge gourd?

Both belong to the luffa genus and are edible when young, but they are distinct varieties. The angled luffa “胜瓜 / 丝瓜” (shèng guā / sī guā) has ten raised ridges running the length of its body and is the more common of the two in Cantonese cooking, prized for its silky, sweet flesh. The smooth sponge gourd “丝瓜 / 水瓜” (sī guā / shuǐ guā) is cylindrical without ridges, slightly more seedy, and similarly mild in flavour. Both mature into loofah sponges if left unharvested. In terms of cooking, they are largely interchangeable, though the angled luffa is generally considered the more refined option for steamed and fine dining preparations.

What kind of Chinese restaurant is Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant?

Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant is an award-winning fine dining Chinese restaurant at Sheraton Towers Singapore, established in 1985. Named after the revered Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai, the restaurant is known for its Cantonese cuisine served in the tradition of grand Emperors, with imperial jade and silver table settings and fine bone china. The culinary team practices Hong Kong culinary mastery, creating menus that showcase the natural flavours and aromas of the finest seasonal ingredients. Li Bai consistently ranks among the top Cantonese restaurants in Singapore and has been recognised in Tatler Best Singapore 2026.

Where is Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant located, and how do I make a reservation?

Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant is located at the Lower Lobby, Sheraton Towers Singapore, 39 Scotts Road, Singapore 228230. Reservations can be made online via SevenRooms or WhatsApp. The full Cantonese food menu, including set menus and current promotions, is available here.

What is the Seasonal Wisdom • An Epicurean Celebration of Gourds promotion?

Seasonal Wisdom • An Epicurean Celebration of Gourds (不时不食 · 时令瓜馔) is Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant’s July 2026 à la carte promotion featuring seven dishes built around seasonal gourds: Boiled Melon Soup with Pork, Double Boiled Golden Melon Soup with Seafood, Grilled Eggplant with Stuffed Scallop, Braised Pork Soft Bone with Pumpkin (served in a Bei Bei mini pumpkin), Steamed Angled Luffa with Glass Noodles and ‘Live’ Prawn, Braised Winter Melon with Premium Dried Shrimps, and Stuffed Zucchini with Dried Scallop and Abalone. Each dish is rooted in Cantonese culinary tradition and refined through Li Bai’s Hong Kong culinary mastery.

Plan Your Visit

Seasonal Wisdom • An Epicurean Celebration of Gourds 不时不食 · 时令瓜馔

Available as à la carte dishes throughout July 2026.