There’s nothing worse than biting into a melon to discover it’s not so much melon as wet cardboard, you’ve bought it on a whim, full of hope, only to have all those dreams dashed. Fortunately, if you know what to look for, Golden Hami melon won’t turn out that way. But do know this: It’s no ordinary cantaloupe from the supermarket aisle. This is a royal tribute fruit with more than a thousand years of history trailing behind it, grew in arid desert regions (in this case, Xinjiang, China).
Extreme temperature shifts there cause it to adapt by concentrating its sugars in the flesh of melon as a kind of survival tactic. So when a properly ripened Hami is ready for eating, it can be sweeter than anything we think of as sweet compared to store-bought melons. What you’re getting into here is a specific climate-driven taste that people has treasured since at least the Tang Dynasty.
How to Pick a Golden Hami Melon
Your first cue: how the melon looks. According to the chart above, the melon’s outer rind changes from pale yellow-green to an intense, uniform gold color. Another clue: the netted pattern. Most of the rind should be covered with cork-like tan bumps, standing up off the rind. Check for flat or faded-looking netting. The melon wasn’t ripe when picked; it won’t ever reach its full potential. Its rind texture provides a clue as to what lies within, sugar content. Good-looking netting mean the fruit had sufficient time on the vine to build up those high sugar numbers. It is a small detail, but it makes all the difference in whether you will enjoy it.
Of course, all this is for nothing unless you know how to handle your good piece when it arrives. And the trick with the Golden Hami (and most melons) is to keep it in perfect balance between sweet and crisp. It’s also important to remember that almost every bite will contain edible fruit. Even with an average sized Golden Hami, the seed cavity is tiny and the flesh walls is impressively thick.
The smell is what gives it away. A ripe one should smell strongly of flowers, and from several feet away. Pressing your nose up close to the rind to get a whiff? Still not there. Smells like vinegar or fermentation? Too late. This is why the brief period of perfection usually only lasts for a few days after it turn its rich golden color.
Storing: Preservation is key here. If your melon is still a little on the green side, leave it on the counter until ripe. Once you reach this “sweet spot,” chilling preserves it instead of spoiling the texture. However, do take it out again to warm up to room temperature before eating. Cold will dull not just the scent but also the taste. A full melon should be stored at room temperature, and you’ll want to wait till serving time to cut into it, the exposed flesh will begin to dry out, as well as pick up any refrigerator aromas.
Don’t be fooled: skip any melon with even a speck of green, and look past the blossom end. A good sign of ripeness is if it give slightly to gentle pressure on the end that was once attached to the plant’s vine. Mush? Compost. Rock hard? Wait. Sight and smell are better clues than weight for most fruits. This is especially true for Hami, which has a very distinct flavor. Many foreign-grown melon can be almost grainy due to their growing conditions in the dry desert climate.
So what’s the trick to choosing a Golden Hami melon? Well, first there’s the patience part, then there’s the paying-attention-to-details part. What you want is an ideal combination of deep golden color, obvious netting, and a strong aroma. It would of pay off to the careful buyer: almost decadently sweet, with such a high degree of crunch.
And when you do get to cut it open, and behold those thick walls of creamy flesh, you’ll know it was fit only for emperors. Every bite will reward your efforts to choose well.