Watermelon Rind, Also Known as Watermelon Green Peel: A Full Guide to Its Benefits, Effects and Delicious Recipes

Everyone loves watermelon; it cools and refreshes in summer and is one of the must-have fruits at home. Besides the flesh, the watermelon rind can also be eaten. Watermelon rind is also known as watermelon green peel. It comes from the outer rind of the watermelon, a plant in the Cucurbitaceae family. Harvesting and processing: collect watermelon rind from July to August, shave off the soft inner part, and dry in the sun; some also peel off the outer green skin and take only the middle part. So what are the benefits and effects of watermelon rind? How do you make watermelon rind taste good?

I. Benefits and Effects of Watermelon Rind

1. Cooking delicious dishes: Watermelon rind has so many benefits for the human body, but it is not as delicious as the flesh and generally cannot be eaten directly. However, you can make rind dishes. First, braised pork with watermelon rind. The method is similar to braised pork; when the meat is nearly cooked, add the cut watermelon rind and simmer over low heat until the flavors are absorbed. However, it is best not to add sugar during the process, to preserve the rind's texture and nutrition. Second, cold-tossed watermelon rind. Peel off the green outer skin of the rind, keep the white part and cut it into small pieces. Put cilantro and minced garlic into a bowl, add an appropriate amount of salt, vinegar, white sugar, sesame oil and boiled water, mix well, then pour over the rind and stir.

2. Skin care: Watermelon rind contains very high levels of vitamin C and vitamin E, making it a good material for external skin care. When using it, mash the rind into a paste and apply it to the face, leave it on for 15 minutes and then rinse. With consistent use, it can make the skin fair, tender and smooth.

3. Whitening: Watermelon rind contains citrulline, which has the effects of promoting urination, reducing fever, promoting wound healing, and promoting human skin metabolism, whitening and moisturizing the skin, and fading acne marks.

4. After-sun repair: Watermelon rind has a certain effect in treating sunburn: cut the watermelon rind into small thin slices and apply them to the sunburned skin, replacing them every 5—10 minutes. For more severe sunburn, you can first refrigerate the watermelon rind, then apply it as a cold compress; with persistence for one week, the effect of treating sunburn is obvious.

5. Removing prickly heat: Traditional Chinese medicine believes that prickly heat is caused in midsummer when summer heat combines with dampness, accumulates in the skin, and leads to blocked pores. Watermelon rind has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying and draining dampness, so whether used externally or taken internally, it has a certain effect on preventing and treating prickly heat.

6. Treating illness: Traditional Chinese medicine calls watermelon rind “watermelon green peel”, and uses it to clear heat and relieve summer heat, and to promote fluid production and quench thirst. Because the rind does not contain as much sugar as the flesh, it is suitable for all kinds of people to eat.

7. Relieving summer heat: Put watermelon rind into water and boil it; drinking the boiled liquid can effectively clear heat and relieve summer heat.

8. Treating mouth ulcers: Dry the green part of the watermelon rind, grind it into a fine powder, and apply it to the surface of the mouth ulcer; it can effectively resolve the ulcer.

9. Treating sore, swollen throat: Boil watermelon rind with 2 bowls of water down to 1 bowl and take it; it can effectively treat sore, swollen throat.

10. Treating burns and scalds: For mild burns and scalds, you can use sun-dried watermelon rind as medicine; grind it into a fine powder, mix it with a small amount of vegetable oil or sesame oil, and apply it to the wound surface to speed up healing.

11. Summer heat damaging the lungs, body heat and thirst, dry cough without phlegm, or constipation: Wash 50 grams each of fresh hyacinth bean and fresh Oldenlandia diffusa, and 60 grams of fresh lotus leaf; wash 200 grams of jellyfish, 500 grams of watermelon rind and 250 grams of loofah, cut them into pieces, put them all into a clay pot, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 1 hour, season, and drink the soup and eat the jellyfish. 1 dose per day.

12. Strengthening the spleen and relieving summer heat: Decoct 100 grams of fresh watermelon rind and 10 jujubes together, and drink it as tea every day.

13. Summer acne: Add 1500 milliliters of water to 100 grams of mung beans and boil into soup; after boiling for 10 minutes, remove the mung beans, add 500 grams of washed watermelon rind (no need to peel off the outer skin) and boil again; after boiling, let it cool. Drink the soup several times a day.

14. Increasing yang: Shred watermelon rind, blanch it in boiling water and take it out, then eat it with shredded cooked chicken, shredded lean pork and seasonings.

15. Relieving summer heat and promoting urination: Cut watermelon rind with the outer hard skin removed into small pieces or strips, put them into water and boil, add tomato, egg and seasonings, and drink the soup and eat the rind.

16. Relieving toothache: Traditional Chinese medicine believes that watermelon rind can mainly treat conditions such as summer heat and excessive thirst. Besides drinking it as tea, after watermelon rind is sun-dried, add a little borneol and apply it to the painful tooth area to relieve pain.

II. How Do You Make Watermelon Rind Taste Good?

1. Cold-tossed watermelon rind. In the hot summer, cold-tossed watermelon rind is essential. Cut the rind into thin, long small pieces, mix and pickle them with a little salt for two to three hours, drain off the salt water, add soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and other seasonings, and eat it as a refreshing cold dish.

2. Watermelon rind juice. Peel off the green skin of the watermelon rind completely, then put it into a juicer to extract juice, then add an appropriate amount of other fruit juice to blend, and add an appropriate amount of sugar; it will surely be very delicious, clearing heat and relieving summer heat, with a quite good taste.

3. Watermelon rind diced congee. Peel off the hard skin and any remaining flesh from 150 grams of watermelon rind, rinse clean, cut into fine dice, and lightly pickle with salt. Put clean water, the diced watermelon rind, 100 grams of washed japonica rice, 30 grams of Chinese yam and 30 grams of hyacinth bean into a pot, first bring to a boil over high heat, then switch to low heat and cook for about 15 minutes, and finally season with salt and sesame oil, or you can also season with red or white sugar. This congee has the effects of tonifying qi and strengthening the spleen, and removing dampness and clearing summer heat.

3. Watermelon rind pork rib soup. Wash the watermelon rind, peel off the green skin, cut into cubes and set aside; wash the pork ribs, blanch them in water to remove the blood and set aside; put 8 bowls of water into a pot, bring to a boil over high heat, add the pork ribs, and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes; add the cut middle part of the watermelon rind, then simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, and add a little salt to season.

4. Stir-fried pork with watermelon rind. Remove the green hard outer skin of a thick-skinned watermelon rind, remove the red flesh inside, wash and cut into thin slices, and pickle with salt for about 15 minutes. Squeeze the water out of the pickled rind and set aside. Cut lean pork into shreds, add salt, cooking wine, soy sauce and water starch, mix well and marinate briefly. Heat oil in a wok; after the oil is hot, add a little minced ginger to flavor the wok, pour in the marinated shredded pork and stir-fry until it changes color, then remove and set aside. Heat the remaining oil again, pour in the squeezed-dry watermelon rind and stir-fry, add the cut red pepper shreds. Sprinkle a little white sugar to enhance the flavor, then add the stir-fried shredded pork and stir-fry evenly, and it is ready to serve.