No one knows fruits better than the people of Hainan. On this island where a wide variety of tropical plants are available all year round, fruits are not only healthy snacks, but also essential ingredients in local dishes. Islanders’ creativity shines through their fruit recipes: deep-fried banana, toasted durian, salted lemon juice, mango dipped in soy sauce, and all kinds of meat stewed in coconut water...but among them, the watermelon clam soup is a must-try in summer.

Hainan locals proudly recommend this appetizer, dubbed as “the number one soup in Hainan,” as a specialty they’ve enjoyed since childhood. Its origin is untraceable, but enjoying sweet juicy watermelon and fresh seafood sounds like a no-brainer during the island’s sweltering summer months. Boiling both in the same pot might sound too adventurous to some tourists, but locals say they are a perfect match, as the ingredients bring out the best in one other—a unique savory taste that makes your tastebuds dance.

In-season ingredients, including watermelon, clam, and shrimp, are key to this dish. Like almost all the other Hainan food, the watermelon clam soup is lightly seasoned, highlighting as much of the original flavors of the ingredients as possible. The most authentic recipe uses a local variety of watermelon, which weighs only about 1 kilogram. Local Chronicle of Gan’en County (《感恩县志》), a historical record published in the Qing dynasty (1616 – 1911), calls these fist-sized melons “西瓜仔,” literally “baby watermelon.” As the chronicle describes, these melons can have three different colors of flesh—red, white, and yellow—with the red being the most delicious. Today, they are still easy to find in local markets in Hainan.