I discovered that bitter melon or bitter gourd as it is being called , stir fry with just preserved salted vegetable aka 'hum choy' in cantonese tasted good. I read an article from the 'Flavour magazine' that a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur served that as their signature dish. Such a simple dish and that is their signature dish....mmmmm from the photos and description it looked actually like what I have cooked last night.
I would normally fry this bitter melon with salted black beans and shrimps, but this simple and easy to prepare dish is amazingly tasty even though there is no meat or shrimps in it. A very vegetarian dish no doubt. With just asome chopped garlic, julienne salted veg and some olive oil , stir fry the bitter melon under high flame. Add a pinch of salt, a dash of white pepper and some cooking wine when it is ready to be dish up....
......... and I get a plate of insanely delicious stir-fry bitter melon with preserved salted vegetable that goes well with a bowl of porridge or a plate of hot rice . The taste was awesome ! Do try this dish out if you are a bitter melon lover. Oh , by the way the chinese believes that bitter melon is good for the body. It helps to detoxify the blood in our body :)))
Have a nice day !
Interesting combinations. I will always make soup out of the bitter melon. I have to try this out even though I am not a fan of 'kiam chye'
ReplyDeleteMy mom likes to stir fry bitter melon with short pork ribs or sliced beef, black bean sauce.
ReplyDeleteI love bitter melon, never tried it with ham choy though! I also heard that it's good for healing pimples, hahaha.
Thanks Elin for sharing!
I tried making bitter melon just one time and it was terrible (I didn't get all the 'bitter' flavor out) but this makes me want to try again! Delicious.
ReplyDelete@ ICook4Fun: Yup, I knew it would be nice when I first read it from the magazine, so from the description, I make my own recipe and it turned out so tasty that I will make it again. This time to serve with a bowl of hot porridge...yumm
ReplyDelete@ Kenny: I used to drink a lot of bitter melon water during my teens. Lotz of pimples then and my mom had to force me to gulp them down LoL and now I develop a love for this bitter melon :)
@ Tangled Noodle : To get rid of the bitterness from the melon, you have to rub salt on the sliced pieces and leave it for 5 mins, washed off the salt before you stir fry them. And when choosing the melon, choose those with grooves wide apart.
The garlic and the salted veg makes the whole dish taste delicious! Do try again and I am sure you will grow to like bitter melon :)
I've never tried bitter melon. It looks really good.
ReplyDeleteHi Paula,
ReplyDeleteYup, it does taste good. Unless you like the bitterish taste of bitter melon other wise you won't like it at all :))
For the previous poster, just be aware that you'll never be able to fully take out the bitter taste. Personally, I really enjoy the bitter flavor, though I do use either the salt or blanch method to soften the bitterness. Koreans don't really cook with bitter melon, but I picked up a love of this when it was introduced to me by a Chinese co-worker. I stirfry mine with garlic and ground pork. My mother (who also developed a love of bitter melon) prefers her without any meat. She adds garlic, scallions, soy sauce, and a bit of chicken or beef stock to braise it. Very delicious either way.
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