Luffa Stir Fry

What plant can you eat and then use to wash up your plate? A luffa! The luffa plant is a warm-climate vine in the gourd family. Treat them as you do most annual veggies in the kitchen garden: lots of sunlight, warmth, and space to grow. By mid-summer, the vine produces fruit that resembles a cucumber or zucchini. However, these bad boys get much larger than your typical cucumber or zucchini. A luffa fruit starts off with soft, spongy flesh. It is at this stage that they can be eaten. As the luffa matures, a complex of internal fibers develop and strengthen. Once the fruit matures and dries on the vine, the flesh will disappear, leaving behind a matrix of these fibers. You peel away the papery skin, shake out the seeds like a maraca, and voilà - you have nature’s Scrub Daddy. 

I’ve grown luffa for many years because of its utility as a homegrown cleaning tool. Also, I just love growing quirky plants. Most people who’ve visited our garden have had no idea that the luffa exists, much less that the commonplace bath loofah is based on it. Bewildering indeed! What I didn’t know in my first few years of growing them was that they are edible. Turns out, luffa is eaten in many parts of the world, primarily the Asian continent. Countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, China, Nepal, and Japan use luffa in their respective cuisines. There are two commonly used species. One is Luffa aegyptiaca, or the smooth luffa. The other is Luffa acutangula, or the angled luffa or ridged gourd. It’s easy to decipher that one has smooth skin and the other has ridges. I’ve only ever grown smooth luffa. 

This summer I found myself laden with luffa. And being slightly intimated, I wrote to my Food Network friend and colleague, Andy Liang, who is an expert in Asian cooking. Not just an expert, but a recipe developer at Food Network. His specialty is Cantonese cuisine. Andy grew up with his mother making luffa and was able to guide me on how to prepare it - which is to say stir fried or sautéed. Treat it like zucchini, he said. Aside from needing to peel the skin, luffa does behave in much the same way as zucchini. I like how it absorbs flavors like a champ and also sweats out liquid that can be “saucified”. So thank you Andy for your luffa expertise!

Luffa Stir Fry

INGREDIENTS

• 2 young luffa gourds (approx. 1½ lbs.),  peeled, large dice
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon chili powder (can adjust to taste)
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or other high smoke point oil)
• 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons garlic chives (sub. green onions), finely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a strainer, liberally salt the luffa pieces. Salt will extract excess water in the luffa. Toss to combine and leave to drain in the sink for 15 minutes. Rinse off salt with cold water then gently squeeze out as much water from the luffa as possible. Set aside. 
2. Combine chicken bouillon, sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and chili powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat. 
4. Add peanut oil and swirl evenly around the skillet.
5. Quickly add the ginger, chicken bouillon spice mix, and garlic to the oil and stir to combine. These will burn quickly, so don’t let them sit for more than 10 seconds.
6. Add the luffa pieces and stir to combine. Continue stirring while the luffa cooks, roughly 2-3 minutes.
7. Toss in garlic chives, mix, and cook for another 30 seconds.
8. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve.

Notes

-  This stir fry can be prepared classically with a wok if you have one.