Double-boiled melon soup with seafood 老黄瓜海鲜盅

Ingredients
A) Melon bowl
1 old cucumber (choose a fatter one to make broader bowl)
Salt water

B) Chicken broth
2 chicken thigh bones (can replace with pork ribs)
Old cucumber chucks
Handful of dried scallops
5 red dates
1 honey date
4-5 cups water

C) Seafood
2 prawns (remove shell and devein, with tail on)
2 slices of salmon (or other fish)
2 crabstick
2 small asparagus

Methods
1) Cut the old cucumber into halve, use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Slice off a part at the base to make the melon bowl stands. Measure the height of the 2 melon bowls to make sure they fit into your steamer. Slice off extra height and cut into chucks to make the broth.

2) Wrap the base of the melon bowls with aluminium foil in case it leaks and place on steamer. Fill the bowls with salt water to 3/4 full and steam for 15mins using low-med fire.

3) Combine all ingredients in B to make the chicken broth using a pot, I cook for about an hour. The water used is roughly doubled the amount needed for your melon bowls later.

4) When the broth is ready, remove all ingredients and set aside. Bring broth to boil, and add in ingredient C to cook. Off fire once cooked.

5) Throw away the salted water from the melon bowls and add chicken broth to 2/3 full, add in the seafood and steam using low fire for 15mins.

6) Add the dried scallops and a chuck or 2 of old cucumber if there's space to the melon bowl and serve.

Notes
You will notice there's practically no seasoning except for the salted water (thrown away after steaming), but the melon soup is very flavorful. The soup is more than what is required for the melon bowls.