How to Freeze Long Gourd

A friend of mine gave me some bitter melon and long gourd.  We call long gourd Upo in the Phiilippines.  It's a great vegetable to cook with meat or fish soup.  I wasn't able to plant one this year so I am glad that  I was given one.  

 Since it was very long, I decided to freeze them  so I can use it  when I have the ingredients I need to cook it when I want to.  I usually use this to cook sardines.

Here's how I freeze  ithe long gourd.

• Peel the skin off using a vegetable peeler and slice  it in half.

•  Remove the stuff inside the gourd using a spoon.

•  Then slice them according to desired size.

•  Blanch it in a boiling water for  5 minutes.

•  Drained the hot water and plunge the   blanched gourd immediately in an ice water.  Let it  chill for 5 minutes before draining the water.

•  Let it drain thouroughly.  You can lay it on a kitchen towel or  have it drained on a strainer.

•  Put it in a ziploc and put it in the freezer.  Make sure to put the date.  

I love how blanching it  maintain it's beautiful color and preserve the fresh taste.