Yummy and Delicious Bitter Melon

[SheenaGreena]

I bought one bitter melon from the grocery store last week and fixed it for dinner earlier tonight. I only bought one, because I was afraid I wouldn't like it...well I actually love the taste. I tasted a small piece raw and I still enjoyed it. Tonight though I played it safe and salted it for an hour and then sauteed it in some sesame oil/vegetable oil with garlic, soy sauce, and mirin. I didn't add too much of the last two but they still seemed to overpower the flavor of the melon. I didn't throw it in the trash or anything, it was still pretty good but I yearned for that strong bitter flavor.

Do you have any suggestions or recipes utilizing this delicious new favorite vegetable? Keep in mind that I have a lot of korean and Japanese ingredients at hand.

[Domestic Goddess]

Sheena - I have never cared for bitter melon (called ampalaya in Filipino). My grandmother usually fixes it with eggs or a can of sardines (the ones in tomato sauce).

For the egg kind, she usually would cut the bitter melon half and then thinly slice each half. She would salt this liberally and squeeze out the bitter juice. Then she would saute garlic, thinly sliced onions and tomatoes in a wok. After the tomatoes have exuded their oil she would add the bitter melon. More-stirfrying and then she would pour in lightly scrambled eggs into the wok and stri everything together until all the wok contents are coated with the egg. Salt and pepper to taste and pour everything into a platter. Serve hot. This is a traditional lunch fare in the Philippines.

For the sardines version - Follow all the instructions above and substitute the scrambled eggs with the contents of one can of sardines in tomato sauce. Add a little water and simmer until the kitchen is fragrant. Serve hot with lots of steamed rice.

[Nishla]

My favorite way to cook bitter melon is with ground pork and some black bean garlic sauce, served over rice. I'm lazy and use the sauce from a jar, but not too much because it's REALLY salty. I don't pre-salt the melon or anything. Just slice it and toss it in a pan with oil, sauce and pork until everything is cooked through. If it's too dry, I add a splash of stock or water. I'm sure someone has a more authentic method out there, but I find this works well enough

[Milagai]

If you have Indian ingredients on hand

(e.g. cumin, coriander powder, tamarind, etc.)

there are several tasty sounding Indian Karela recipes here:

(Karela = bitter melon, bitter gourd).

http://www.bawarchi.com/cookbook/karela.html

and here:

http://indianfoodrocks.blogspot.com/2005/0...-brave-man.html

and here:

http://food.sify.com/review_more.php?&t=Ka...76&cid=13292914

(this site has good Indian regional recipes)

Karela's bitterness is supposed to indicate its medicinal qualities,

and apparently does something good for those with diabetes

(not sure about the details).

I also like karela, but prefer the fried and crunchy recipes

and I can't imagine too many good nutrients survive the process

Milagai

[stephenc]

marinate meat - ground pork or beef soy sauce or oyster, rice wine or sherry, salt, pepper, corn starch

oil, garlic in pan, cook meat until its almost done, remove meat

clean pan or in another pan stirfry the bitter melon in oil. when the melon is almost done, add the meat and some black bean/garlic sauce, stirfry some more.

done

[Daniel]

I have had it with shredded chicken served cold with sesame seeds and some sort of dark sauce.. I wish I could remember, its something I really enjoyed...

[Kent Wang]

marinate meat - ground pork or beef    soy sauce or oyster, rice wine or sherry, salt, pepper, corn starch

oil, garlic in pan, cook meat until its almost done, remove meat

clean pan or in another pan stirfry the bitter melon in oil.  when the melon is almost done, add the meat and some black bean/garlic sauce, stirfry some more.

←

That's pretty much how I do it. I like to drizzle some chili oil. The spiciness balances well with the bitterness. I'll write a pictorial recipe soon.

[hzrt8w]

I have one pictorial recipe on cooking bitter melons with "foo yu" (Chinese fermented bean curds):

Stir-fried Bitter Melons with Foo Yu

It is also popular to cook bitter melons, in Chinese cooking, with garlic and black beans, like this recipe:

Stir-Fried Chicken and Asparagus with Black Bean Sauce (豉汁蘆筍炒鸡片)

Just use bitter melon in place of asparagus.

[SheenaGreena]

all of these recipes sound wonderful, thanks everyone.

I have never cooked chinese food in my life, or anything remotely chinese. I wouldn't even know where to get the black bean sauce in the asian grocery store.

the philipines version sounds very similar to how I cooked it yesterday. After cooking it the way I described, I ate some, then threw it into some fried rice with an egg. The tomato addition sounds really delicious though

indian preparation sounds good too, but unfortunately I have no tamarind and I don't even know how to use it...but I have everything else. I keep a few indian spice mixes on hand as well..they are good to add to steamed or fried veggies once in a while.

[Milagai]

indian preparation sounds good too, but unfortunately I have no tamarind and I don't even know how to use it...but I have everything else.  I keep a few indian spice mixes on hand as well..they are good to add to steamed or fried veggies once in a while.

←

there were several recipes without tamarind,

and if you really want to try one of the tamarind recipes,

try substituting some lemon juice + a little molasses (to

get the sour+sweet combination) - the taste is not quite the same

but it's not a bad option to try.

Milagai

[annachan]

My favorite is bitter melon stew.

Make a stock with meaty pork bones or sparerib pieces, you can add some chicken stock for extra flavor. Add in bitter melon pieces (cut into large 2-3 inch pieces) and pickled mustard. Salt to taste. Cook until bitter melon is tender. Serve with soy sauce and sesame oil on the side for dipping.

[mrbigjas]

my favorite is soup made from bitter melon stuffed with minced pork. there's a recipe here but i've never actually made it for myself so i don't know if it's any good. looks about right though.

[angeljolie]

My favorite would be stir-fried beef with bitter melon and fermented black beans. I also love bitter melon in munggo guisado (mung bean soup), in lieu of bitter melon leaves. The secret is not to overcook it so it won't become too bitter. Also, you need to pick those that are light green in color. Based on experience, they're less bitter.

[Domestic Goddess]

Angel - I really disliked it when my grandmother would add bitter melon to the mung bean soup (which is my favorite). I swear I could taste the bitterness in the soup. But I do give credit to my grandmother who is the only one I know who could take most of the bitterness out of the bitter melon (her salting, squishing through her fingers method).

Here is another way to cook bitter melon, in another Filipino dish called Pinakbet. You would need aubergines (eggplants), string beans, squash, shrimp paste, etc. for the recipe. Here's a link where you can find the entire process and recipe:

Pinakbet

Edited October 25, 2006 by Domestic Goddess (log)

[Dejah]

I love bitter melon stir fried with tender slices of beef and black bean garlic sauce. I prefer using smashed fermented soy beans to the bottled sauce. There's got to be chopped garlic and ginger in the sauce. I never salt and squeeze to get rid of the bitterness. That's what I love the most! That bitterness leaves a "cooling" feel in the mouth after eating.

For soup, there has to be rehydrated oysters, and lots of ginger in with the meaty pork bones. I cut the melon into big chunks. So good!

[torakris]

My favorite bitter melon dish is the Okinawan champuru, this is a simple dish of bittermelon stirfried with tofu.

Use a firm tofu and press it well, I weight it down for at least an hour. Cut the tofu into small slabs and sear both sides, remove from pan. Saute the sliced bitter melon for a couple minutes, return the tofu to the pan and turn the heat to low. Add a couple beaten eggs then sprinkle with salt and soy sauce, when the eggs are just cooked pull off the heat and top with a pack of bonito flakes (katsuo bushi).

In Okinawa this is often made with fatty pork or a spam like product, I prefer it without.

[BarbaraY]

I tried it once many, many years ago. I usually like bitterish flavors but this was more than I could handle.

The recipe I used at the time didn't call for salting it as seems to be common.

Perhaps I should try it again next time I go to an Oriental market.

[SheenaGreena]

thanks again for all the recipes everyone, it seems as though torakris' may be a winner cause I have most of the ingredients already at hand. I would love to try the black bean versions, soup versions, and the ones stuffed with minced pork. Indian and philipines versions sound awesome as well (:

Yesterday I ate it raw in a salad and it was delicious! I think I may like it better raw. The next time I go to the local asian mart I am going to buy way more.