- Type
- Gourds & Squash
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Season
- Spring·Summer
- Sowing
- From seed
Bottle gourd
Lagenaria siceraria
95% water · a summer vine for the trellis
The bottle gourd is a summer vine grown up a trellis. Picked young, it is peeled for a stir-fried green or a soup vegetable; pared into thin ribbons and dried, it becomes bakgoji. Left to ripen fully, hollowed and dried, it turns into a bowl, so it pays to decide early which fruits on a plant are for eating and which are for the shell. The Donguibogam lists it in the Vegetable section as 甛瓠, the sweet gourd, calling it cold in nature, sweet in taste and free of toxicity, while adding that some say it is slightly toxic. It records that people habitually cooked the sweet-tasting gourds as a vegetable, which means sorting out the bitter ones was a condition of eating them even then. Bitterness is still the only signal there is. Taste a fingernail-sized piece of the raw flesh before preparing it, and if it is bitter, spit it out instead of swallowing, rinse the mouth, and throw the whole fruit away. Cucurbitacins survive cooking, so heat is no remedy for a bitter gourd, and raw gourd juice is not a drink to make.
Year-Round Calendar
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Where It Grows
- Main producer Called lauki or dudhi, it is grown across the country in summer and through the rainy season. The area under cultivation here is the largest.
- Main producer Called hulu, it is commonly grown in the south, and the young fruits are eaten.
- Major producer Called lau, it is a common summer vegetable grown on trellises in yards and on the banks between rice paddies.
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Major producer
Tochigi Prefecture is the producing region for kanpyo. It is made by shaving the ripened fruit into a thin continuous ribbon and drying it — the same product as Korean bakgoji (dried gourd strips). Harvest July, August
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- Wild population This is one of the areas of southern Africa where wild populations survive. The plant is not cultivated here; it is where the wild form lives.
Wild populations survive in southern Africa, so the crop is regarded as African in origin; because that is a continent rather than a single country, no country is entered in the origin row. Its seeds are unharmed by floating in water, and it crossed to both Asia and the Americas at a very early date — a rare crop that crossed the oceans first. Almost all of what is eaten today comes from South Asia and East Asia.
- Optimum
- 22~30℃
- Range
- 15~35℃
- Hardiness
- Not hardy
It is a vine that grows only in the hot, frost-free season. Growth stops below 15℃, and frost kills the plant. The flowers open white at dusk, and moths carry the pollen at night.
In Korea Nationwide
It is grown on trellises for a single summer season. The young fruits are used for namul (seasoned vegetable side dishes) and for bakgoji, while fruits left late on the vine to mature become bagaji — traditional gourd dippers.
How to grow
- Light
- Six hours of direct sun or more. Short of that the vine runs long and sets few female flowers
- Soil and depth
- Well-fed, free-draining soil at least 30cm deep. The roots range widely, so use a container of 30 litres or more
- Spacing
- At least 100cm between plants. Build the trellis a good 2m wide and hang netting for the vine to climb
- Watering
- The plant drinks heavily while fruit is setting. Water morning and evening in high summer; erratic watering twists the fruit out of shape
- Feeding
- Work in plenty of base compost, then top-dress every two or three weeks once the first fruit sets. Excess nitrogen sends it into vine and cuts female flowers
- Harvest
- Gourds for eating are picked from July to September, while the skin still dents under a fingernail and the down is on it, usually twelve to eighteen days after flowering. Gourds for bowls are cut in October before the frost, once the stem has dried and the shell hardened
What makes the difference. Pinch out the main vine at five or six true leaves, because the female flowers come on the secondary and tertiary vines. Gourd flowers open at dusk and moths carry the pollen overnight, so in a city with few night insects, pick a male flower in the evening and brush it against the female
Why this one is harder. A weak trellis collapses under the weight of the fruit. A full-grown gourd runs 3-5kg, so set the posts deep and sling a net under each fruit to take the load
Common problems
- Aphids You will see Colonies on shoot tips and leaf undersides, with curled leaves and sticky residue What to do Wash them off with a jet of water and use an egg-yolk oil spray if they return. Clear away the soft shoots removed during pinching straight away
- Yellow cucurbit leaf beetle You will see Leaves grazed in neat circular arcs, and young plants that stall What to do Pick them off in the cool of the morning. Fine mesh from planting out until flowering cuts the damage sharply
- Powdery mildew You will see Patches on the upper leaf surface as if dusted with flour, spreading until the leaf dries out What to do Strip the old lower leaves to open up airflow and water the soil only, in the morning. Remove affected leaves from the plot entirely
This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.
Health Benefits
What the Donguibogam records — the name 甛瓠, nature and taste. The Donguibogam lists the plant in the Vegetable section as 甛瓠, glossed in Korean as the sweet gourd. It records the nature as cold and the taste as sweet with no toxicity, while noting alongside that some call it slightly toxic. It states that people habitually cooked the sweet-tasting gourds as a vegetable. As the name itself suggests, the old record already sorted gourds by taste before eating them, which overlaps with the present-day rule of never eating a bitter one. This is a historical medical record and differs from modern medical judgment.
Variation in cucurbitacin content. Analyses report that cucurbitacin content in cucurbit crops varies widely with cultivar, individual plant and growing environment. They also note that the bitterness a person tastes serves as the practical signal that the compounds are present. This concerns compositional variation only, and has no bearing on the prevention or treatment of disease.
Nutrition
- Water (around 95% in a young fruit) — a very low-energy make-up for the bulk
- Cucurbitacins (varies widely by individual plant and growing conditions) — the bitter compounds cucurbits produce
- Dietary fibre, pectin included (concentrated by weight once dried into bakgoji) — what gives dried gourd its chew
- Potassium (spread evenly through the flesh) — a mineral commonly reported in cucurbits
Water and energy A young gourd is around 95% water, so it carries very little energy for its bulk. That water is also why the volume collapses so visibly in the pan. The flip side is that it goes to mush if cooked long. Stir-fry hot and fast and season at the end if the pieces are to hold their shape.
Cucurbitacins and bitterness — spit it out Cucurbits produce a group of triterpenoids called cucurbitacins. Cultivated gourds have been bred low in them, but a plant stressed by heat or drought, or grown from seed crossed with an ornamental or wild line, can run high. Heat does not break these compounds down and soaking in brine does not remove them. So taste a fingernail-sized piece of the raw flesh before cooking, and if it is bitter, spit it out instead of swallowing, rinse the mouth, and throw the whole fruit away. If it has already gone into the pot, discard the broth along with it. Fruit from home-saved seed, or from seed crossed with an ornamental gourd, is where this shows up. Bottle gourd is not something to drink as a raw juice.
Dried into bakgoji Paring the gourd into thin ribbons and drying it drives off the water, cutting the weight sharply and raising the fibre share. Soak dried bakgoji for twenty to thirty minutes until pliable before cooking. Discard the soaking water, which picks up grit and a musty note, and cook in fresh water. Dried well and sealed, it keeps beyond a year.
Pairings
○ Fried in perilla oil — Perilla oil is the standard way to cook young gourd. The gourd itself tastes mild, so the nuttiness of the oil comes through undiluted. Once liquid starts to pool, turn the heat up to drive it off.
○ Seasoned with salted shrimp — Salted shrimp in place of plain salt brings savour with it. Gourd takes seasoning poorly, so add the shrimp partway through the frying and let it cook in. Straining and using only the liquid keeps the colour clean.
○ Braised dried gourd — Soaked bakgoji braised in soy sauce and sugar keeps its grain and turns pleasantly chewy. This braise is the gourd filling found in gimbap. Reduce over low heat until almost no liquid remains.
△ A bitter gourd — not one mouthful — The cucurbitacins that gourds produce are not broken down by heat and are not drawn out by soaking in brine. Before cooking, taste a fingernail-sized piece of the raw flesh; if it is bitter, spit it out instead of swallowing, rinse the mouth, and throw the whole fruit away. If it has already gone into the pot, discard the broth with it. Bitter fruit turns up on plants grown from home-saved seed or from seed crossed with an ornamental or wild gourd, and on plants stressed by heat and drought. Bottle gourd is not something to drink as a raw juice.
Varieties
- Chambak (round gourd) (seed) — A large round gourd. Eaten young, made into a bowl when ripe
- Jangbak (long gourd) (seed) — Grows long and straight. The best shape for paring into dried ribbons
- Calabash gourd (seed) — The waisted ornamental and craft type. Always taste first if eating is the plan
Source: Donguibogam, Vegetable Section 甛瓠 · Rural Development Administration (Nongsaro) · Korean Food Composition Table