Bittermelon for Gweilos

[TheTInCook]

Any ideas of how to cook it or make it more palatable?

I'm thinking of salt purging it, then blanching it.

Not sure how to cook it. I only know the bittermelon and egg thing that Filipinos and Okinawans do. Also pinkabet.

[bwv544]

my father likes it stir-fried with pork.

salt helps.

really, though, i think people like bittermelon FOR the bitterness. i didn't like it much and would keep salting it to get it down. my father could probably eat it like an apple (kidding, but not really.)

[heidih]

I like the bitter so have never tried to tame it.

One of my favorite comfort food preps with it is more Vietnamese - cored, stuffed with a mix of ground pork and mung bean noodle and simply seasoned with fish sauce, pinch sugar, and lots of black pepper. Then gently simmered in a light pork broth. The melon is cut into slices for serving.

I know I have seen a well known cookbook author suggest deep frying 1/4" slices until browned and eating as a snack. I have not tried it, but she suggested that it tamed the bitterness as well as being an enjoyable snack. This may have been an Indian style prep.

[Jenni]

Have you got the paler Chinese kind or the darker green Indian kind? The Indian kind seems to be more bitter. In addition, they are bumpier and usually smaller too.

In India, bittergourd (or bitter melon, called karela in Hindi) is often stuffed. There are also many South Indian dishes where bittergourd is cooked in a dish containing tamarind, jaggery and coconut. This helps make the bittergourd more palatable for those who are not big fans of its flavour. Also, to my mind one of the best vatrals (dried vegetables) is made from bittergourd. The bittergourd is dried out (sometimes after being soaked in salted yogurt for several days) and then when it is served it is deep fried. It is an absolutely delicious munchy to put on the table, and so pretty too (the bittergourd is cut into circles). It is not really bitter at all in this state.

However, please remember that the bitterness is considered to be very beneficial. A friend of mine who lives in Dubai but is originally from Kerala eats bittergourd as one of the dishes with his lunch everyday because he has diabetes.

Here is a really simple way to eat bittergourd which is popular in my family as a side dish:

Take two medium (Indian variety) bittergourds. Cut into fairly thin circles, and push the seeds out the middle of each circle. Put some oil in a pan and add the bittergourd. Stir and fry till the bittergourd becomes crispy and is cooked. You do not necessarily need a lot of oil to do this, just a good pan and some patience. Add chilli powder and salt to taste about 3/4 of the way through this process.

In the mean time, take a cup or two of good plain yoghurt (full fat please!) and season it with a little salt. When the bittergourd is done, take it off the heat. Make a tadka with 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, a pinch of asafetida and a few curry leaves. Add the bittergourd and tadka to the yoghurt and serve immediately so that the bittergourd is still crispy when you eat it.

Because the bittergourd is fried well and seasoned with chilli, salt and so on, and because the yogurt is bland and creamy, this dish does not taste too bitter, even though the yoghurt is not boiled or soaked as in the normal methods to get rid of the bitterness.

[annachan]

I've also found that it's less bitter in soup/stew than stir-fry. My favorite is to cook it with pork bones and pickled Chinese mustard greens in a stew. I add a knob of ginger in it as well. I cook that for hours. To eat, I just spoon the stew over rice and have some soy sauce for dipping the meat in. The bitter melon still retains some bitterness, but it's usually quite mellow.

[Will]

Yeah - stir-frying with egg reduces a little of the bitterness. There's another Chinese preparation that uses salted duck egg -- see below -- this guy has you do a lot of work by blanching it in salty water and removing all the pith; I'm not totally convinced that the difference in bitterness is worth all the work (compared to just slicing it and stir-frying, then steaming / braising directly in the wok). Stir-frying with fermented bean paste is another tried and true Chinese cooking method (oven-braising with fermented bean paste is another way I've had it, though I don't know if it's traditional). I don't eat meat, but stuffed with sticky rice and pork is another popular way to eat it.

The type of bittermelon matters too - the white kind that's popular in Taiwan seems a little less bitter; the spikey Indian kind can be extremely bitter. There's a Taiwanese shake made of white bitter melon with some other fruit and honey that's absolutely delicious.

Using a lot of oil, or adding a little bit of sugar are a few other tricks you can try. And just making yourself eat it over and over will get you a bit more accustomed to the taste.

If you can get salted duck eggs, here's another method to try (on Youtube); I put the rough method in English below (recipe uses the white kind, but you can use the green kind too):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68NU2Q80PJk

1) Quarter kugua lengthwise, cut off all the pith, cut in strips on the bias, blanch in hot / just off boil salted water with a little oil

2) Stir-fry whole yolks of 2-4 cooked (n.b. - these come either cooked or uncooked, or you can make your own at home; these are the salted kind, but not century eggs) salted duck eggs in some oil on fairly low heat.

3) Add green onion whites, in ~ 1" chunks

4) Add chopped whites of pidan

5) Add kugua and stir-fry a little longer, then add some (water / "soup") - about 2 ladles.

6) After water cooks off, add a little salt, rice wine

7) Add some sesame oil after removing from heat.

I'm not sure if Okinawans are concerned with reducing the bitter taste - my co-worker was eating some plain with tofu; I asked her if she added any sugar to it, and she looked at me like I was crazy.

[TheTInCook]

Thanks guys!

My main concern is cooking it in a way so there is not a huge bitter onslaught. I really want me and mine to not get turned off the veggie. I like campari and tonic water (separately), so I guess I should be ok.

I'll have to check which kinds are being sold at the market. It's not always a constant selection. Last time I looked they had a really warty knobbly green kind. I guess that is an Indian cultivar?

Interesting recipes for stuffing it, you guys. The culinary competition team at my school years ago, lined a hollowed out bitter melon with roasted red pepper, and stuffed it with sole mouse. Looked like an Italian bullseye.

Will, thanks for the bang up translation job. I think I'm going to have to work myself up to century eggs, though. What kind of soy bean paste do they use for that stir fry, just yellow soy bean paste?

Jenni, do I have to add starch or anything to the yogurt like I'm making a kadhi? Or is the yogurt kept cold or at room temp?

annachan, I don't have any pickled mustard greens. I do have some little packets of pickled mustard stem (I think it's that's what it is), also some gai choy haunting my fridge. Would those work? Your soup sounds like a good excuse to finally cook some neck bones.

[annachan]

annachan, I don't have any pickled mustard greens. I do have some little packets of pickled mustard stem (I think it's that's what it is), also some gai choy haunting my fridge. Would those work? Your soup sounds like a good excuse to finally cook some neck bones.

You can also give it a try. The pickled mustard is to give it a nice sourness. Oh, if you like spicy food, you can also add some chili (fresh ones) in the stew. I think the spiciness also takes the edge off the bitter.

[Will]

Will, thanks for the bang up translation job. I think I'm going to have to work myself up to century eggs, though.

Just to be clear, I said they are not century eggs. They're duck eggs which have been brined for a few weeks or more. They come either cooked (steamed or hard boiled) or uncooked, and don't have the color, taste, or texture of pi dan / century egg (I think the Filipino version is sometimes dyed red also). The cooked salted duck egg is more or less like a hard boiled egg, but intensely salty. Beyond the saltiness, there's nothing really unusual or gross about the flavor or texture.

What kind of soy bean paste do they use for that stir fry, just yellow soy bean paste?

Probably thing usually called "black bean sauce" (dou chi - 豆豉), but you could also use doubanjiang (either the kind with or without chili). Edited April 28, 2011 by Will (log)

[Will]

ps - I don't do well with Campari or tonic water, and I can handle bitter melon pretty well now, so, just keep on eating it.

[Jenni]

Jenni, do I have to add starch or anything to the yogurt like I'm making a kadhi? Or is the yogurt kept cold or at room temp?

Yoghurt is at room temperature.

[SylviaLovegren]

Have you got the paler Chinese kind or the darker green Indian kind? The Indian kind seems to be more bitter. In addition, they are bumpier and usually smaller too.

In India, bittergourd (or bitter melon, called karela in Hindi) is often stuffed. There are also many South Indian dishes where bittergourd is cooked in a dish containing tamarind, jaggery and coconut. This helps make the bittergourd more palatable for those who are not big fans of its flavour. Also, to my mind one of the best vatrals (dried vegetables) is made from bittergourd. The bittergourd is dried out (sometimes after being soaked in salted yogurt for several days) and then when it is served it is deep fried. It is an absolutely delicious munchy to put on the table, and so pretty too (the bittergourd is cut into circles). It is not really bitter at all in this state.

However, please remember that the bitterness is considered to be very beneficial. A friend of mine who lives in Dubai but is originally from Kerala eats bittergourd as one of the dishes with his lunch everyday because he has diabetes.

Here is a really simple way to eat bittergourd which is popular in my family as a side dish:

Take two medium (Indian variety) bittergourds. Cut into fairly thin circles, and push the seeds out the middle of each circle. Put some oil in a pan and add the bittergourd. Stir and fry till the bittergourd becomes crispy and is cooked. You do not necessarily need a lot of oil to do this, just a good pan and some patience. Add chilli powder and salt to taste about 3/4 of the way through this process.

In the mean time, take a cup or two of good plain yoghurt (full fat please!) and season it with a little salt. When the bittergourd is done, take it off the heat. Make a tadka with 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, a pinch of asafetida and a few curry leaves. Add the bittergourd and tadka to the yoghurt and serve immediately so that the bittergourd is still crispy when you eat it.

Because the bittergourd is fried well and seasoned with chilli, salt and so on, and because the yogurt is bland and creamy, this dish does not taste too bitter, even though the yoghurt is not boiled or soaked as in the normal methods to get rid of the bitterness.

Made this yesterday. Delicious. Even I who don't usually like bitter melon loved it. Thank you!