西瓜好不好靠敲？专家教你如何挑西瓜 How to choose the best watermelon

夏天到了，又到了吃西瓜的季节，如何才能挑出最甜的西瓜呢？中国人会告诉你，敲一敲听听声音就知道了，真的是这样么？

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2016年网上贴出的一张意大利超市的照片让“敲西瓜”火了一把。这家超市当时立了个牌，上面写道：“尊敬的顾客，请您不要再敲西瓜了，它们是真的不会回应的！！！”

啥？西瓜都不让敲了？中国网友纷纷表示不服，并表示：没有被敲过的瓜不是完整的瓜！

还有小伙伴表示……

话说回来，敲西瓜真的靠谱吗？敲瓜达人是如何“听声辨音”的呢？

Knocking on watermelon is included in an episode of the Russian cartoon, "Nu, pogodi!". [Photo/Youtube]

WikiHow suggests a ripe watermelon should give a "full sound" rather than a "dull and deep one" if one taps it with the knuckle.

WikiHow网站指出，当你用指关节敲瓜时，成熟的西瓜应该发出浑厚的声音而不是闷声闷气的低沉的声音。

如果你觉得听声辨音有难度，我们还有其他方法可以挑出最好吃的西瓜：

But how to select the best of the batch? Food blogger Emma Christensen recently offered some advice, and it involves a little weight-training. When you examine watermelons in the produce section of your local grocery, you want to look for the heaviest one for its size. The denser the fruit, the more juice it has. That's when it's at its most ripe.

如何才能挑出最好的西瓜？美食博主艾玛·克里斯滕森近日给出了一些建议，当然你还得有把子力气才能担当此任。在当地食品杂货店的农产品区挑西瓜时，你应该在同等大小的西瓜中挑最重的那一个。西瓜的密度越大，汁水就越多。这也意味着西瓜熟透了。

Next, check the underside of the watermelon for the "splotch." That's the yellow patch the watermelon develops by resting on the ground. If it's a creamy yellow, it's also a good indicator of being ripe.

接下来，看西瓜的底部有没有“斑”。西瓜在生长过程中接触地面的地方会形成黄色的斑块。如果斑块呈乳黄色，那就说明西瓜熟了。

Finally, give the underside a little smack—not aggressive enough to draw attention from grocery workers, but enough so that you can determine whether the watermelon sounds hollow. If it does, that's good. If it sounds dull, like you're hitting a solid brick of material, it's overripe; put the watermelon down and slowly back away from it.

最后，轻轻拍一下西瓜底部，不要太用力，以免引起杂货店员工的注意，只要能听到西瓜声音是否空洞就够了。如果发出空洞的声音，那么就是好西瓜。如果声音沉闷，就像碰到一块实心砖头一样，那就说明熟过头了，把西瓜放下，慢慢地离开它吧。

If you're not confident in your watermelon evaluation abilities, there's another option: You can ask the merchant to pick one out for you. Pay attention to what he's doing and then try to emulate it the next time you're forced to choose your own produce.

如果你对自己的挑瓜水平没有信心，你还可以让卖瓜的人帮你挑。不过你得注意他是怎么挑西瓜的，下次你不得不亲自挑选西瓜的时候，可以模仿他的做法。

最后再偷偷告诉你几个挑瓜妙招：

观色：瓜皮表面光滑、花纹清晰、纹路明显、底面发黄的，是熟瓜；表面有茸毛、光泽暗淡、花斑和纹路不清的，是不熟的瓜。

看瓜柄：绿色的是熟瓜；黑褐色、茸毛脱落、弯曲发脆、蜷须尖端变黄枯萎的，是不熟就摘的瓜；瓜柄已干枯，是“死藤瓜”，质量差。

看头尾：两端匀称，脐部和瓜蒂凹陷较深、四周饱满的是好瓜；头大尾小或者头尖尾粗的，是质量较差的瓜。

比弹性：瓜皮较薄，用手指压易碎的，是熟瓜；用指甲划要裂，瓜皮发软的，是过熟的瓜。

炎炎夏日，挑对西瓜，做一个快乐的“吃瓜群众”！

英文来源：Mental Floss

翻译&编辑：丹妮