In the heat of summer, a glass of cool and refreshing lemon green tea or winter melon and lemon juice is the best way to dispel the summer heat. However, farmers in Toushe Village in Nantou County’s Yuchih Township have given free rein to their ingenuity and they are now adding lemon, honey and milk to local fresh sponge gourd, which they mix into a lemon gourd milk with the light sweet fragrance of the sponge gourd. This is a different kind of cool summer drink that has opened people’s eyes.
Huang Shun-yu, chairman of the Association for the Promotion of the Sun Moon Lake Live Basin leisure farming zone, says that the world-class peat in Toushe Village is full of trace elements, and that since the area is located in a high-altitude basin, there is a great difference between day and night temperatures. Huang said this has turned Toushe into a unique sponge-gourd-producing region, and that the gourds produced there are even good when eaten raw. To find more ways of preparing sponge gourd, he studied popular hand-shaken drinks, thus turning sponge gourd into a good product for dispelling the summer heat during its summer harvest period, while at the same time promoting sponge gourd from Toushe.
Huang said that lemon sponge gourd milk uses half a gourd and fresh milk, honey, lemon and water, mixed in a blender, to taste. The drink is then topped off with ice cubes. Although it has a slight rawness to the flavor, the lemon and honey create a smooth milk drink with a unique taste that carries the faint, fresh sponge gourd fragrance.
Photos: Liu Pin-chuan, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者劉濱銓
Huang further said that, thanks to the unique environment, the raw flavor of Toushe sponge gourd is not very strong, and it can be eaten raw dipped in mustard, but is also very good chilled. Huang added that “this is absolutely the best cool product for dispelling the summer heat.”
(Liberty Times, translated by Perry Svensson)
炎炎夏日，來杯清涼的翡翠檸檬或冬瓜檸檬，是最棒的消暑享受，南投縣魚池鄉頭社村農友卻發揮創意，用當地新鮮的絲瓜加入檸檬、蜂蜜與牛奶，調和出充滿絲瓜清甜味的「絲瓜檸檬奶」，另類的消暑「涼」品讓人開了眼界！
日月潭活盆地休閒農業區促進會理事長黃順昱表示，魚池頭社村擁有世界級的泥炭土，豐富的微量元素，加上高海拔盆地，日夜溫差大，造就頭社成為絲瓜專業區，就算生吃也很好吃，他為讓絲瓜能有更多的料理方式，便參考火紅的手搖飲料做成「絲瓜檸檬奶」，不僅能在絲瓜夏日產期作為消暑良品，也能同時推廣頭社絲瓜。
Photos: Liu Pin-chuan, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者劉濱銓
黃順昱說，「絲瓜檸檬奶」是將半條生絲瓜與適量鮮奶、蜂蜜、檸檬、開水放進果汁機一起打，混合冰塊後即完成，雖有微微生鮮味，但有檸檬與蜂蜜的調和，滑順的鮮奶味中透出淡淡絲瓜清香，口味相當特殊。
他說，頭社絲瓜因得天獨厚的環境，鮮果的生味較不濃，可以沾著芥末生吃，直接冰鎮生吃也很可口，絕對是最棒的夏日消暑「涼」品。
(自由時報記者劉濱銓)
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