Watermelon Seeds (Xi Gua Zi)
ヒマワリより難易度高め！？醤油とスパイスが香る「黒いスイカの種」
Description
'Watermelon seeds' consumed massively in China alongside sunflower seeds. Harvested from special watermelons grown specifically for their extra-large seeds. The flat, pitch-black seeds are boiled in soy sauce and star anise, then dried. Harder shell and smaller seed than sunflower seeds, requiring advanced technique to eat cleanly.
Classification: Everyone, Snack, Snack, Gua Zi, Watermelon Seeds, Tea Companion, Soy Flavor, Lucky Charm
Shops selling Watermelon Seeds (Xi Gua Zi)
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How to use
Ingredients
- Watermelon seeds
- Salt
- Soy sauce
- Licorice
- Star anise
- Sugar
Instructions
- [Typical Uses]
- [New Year Tea Companion]: Always placed on Lunar New Year tables alongside mandarins as a lucky charm for 'descendant prosperity'.
- While drinking green or Pu'er tea, dexterously crack the shell using the edge of front teeth and eat the small white seed inside.
Learn more Substitutes, pairings, tips
Key spices
Sweet-salty soy flavor permeated in the shell、and the seed's rustic depth akin to pine nuts
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Irreplaceable. No culture of eating watermelon seeds in JP)
Pairing
Pu'er Tea / Green Tea / Family Gatherings
Trivia
You burn calories cracking the shell, and the inside is so small that it's loved as 'the ultimate time-killing snack that never makes you full (or fat) no matter how much you eat'.
Eating tips & etiquette
Japanese are often shocked: 'You eat watermelon seeds!?', but they are a splendid snack in China. Trying to crack it in the center of front teeth like sunflower seeds makes it slip and fly away; the trick is cracking it with the edge of front teeth or canines.
Allergen
Soybeans, Wheat