I was born on September 11, under Virgo, the sign of the harvest. Every year around my birthday, the garden asks me to finish what I planted and clear the beds for winter.
Yesterday I spent hours pulling out the last of this season's crops. I came home so tired I could barely lift my arms. But it was the good kind of tired, the kind that comes from having grown something.
This year, the winter melon (tōgan) went wild. Despite its name, it's harvested in late summer, and it keeps for months. It carries summer into the cold season.
So here is what I'm making first.
Winter Melon & Chicken Soup (serves 3-4)
Ingredients
- 500 g winter melon, peeled, seeds removed, cut into large chunks
- 4 bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks
- 1 thumb of ginger, sliced
- 6 cups water
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- Green onion to finish
Method
1. Simmer the chicken with the ginger in the water for 20 minutes, skimming the surface.
2. Add the winter melon and cook 15 minutes, until translucent and soft.
Vegetables often taste better when you give them more time than meat. Even in a soup, the extra minutes make the melon sweeter.
3. Season with salt, top with green onion.
That's all. The melon soaks up the chicken broth, and the soup tastes clean and quiet.
Confession: I added a splash of sake, mirin, and soy sauce to the chicken, and a little chicken stock powder too. Anyone who can season with salt alone has my respect.
Virgos are said to love details and small acts of care. Gardening is exactly that: watering, noticing, waiting. Nothing dramatic, just small things done every day until, one September, there's more than you can carry.
That's what we mean by a quiet wealth we keep. Not something bought. Something grown, and kept.
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