Finally found this: 佛手瓜 aka Chayote. The word I had in mind was actually zucchini, which turned out to be something else. Or maybe my parents got it wrong and it's actually zucchini. Or maybe they thought 佛手瓜 = zucchini. Whatever.
Prof's been steadily piling on the pressure, telling me that I absolutely must try to have something working by the end of July. I understand his urgency, and am thankful that he hasn't snapped at me for being so unproductive yet (a few times he looked like he was contemplating whether to or not). However I can't help but resent the fact that my final summer holiday has to spent under the shadow of FYP.
