I am originally from Suriname in South America. We stuff the soporopo with seasoned beef, chicken or fish and than stew it in a gravy. Or I like to stir fry it with dried shrimp or smoked fish with lots of garlic an a touch of sugar and hot sauce or sambal. It is one of my favourite vegetable dishes. With jasmine rice. And it is very good for you. Greetings from the Netherlands
Love, love, love bitter melon! I like to slice it into rings after removing seeds and let the rings soak in milk. Then I make a tempura batter and deep fry them. Totally not a traditional way to prepare it, but my Chinese friend in China love it like this.
My family, Hakka, came from Canton City in China more than a hundred years ago and ended up in Jamaica. We never squeezed the juice or cooked bitter melon (foogah) alone. It was always with pork. And yes, as a child I hated it, but as I got older I started to appreciate the bitter taste. I still oftentimes cook it with pork as pork has a characteristic sweetness, and really enjoy. In Jamaica, there is a native kind called cerasee. It's much smaller and not eaten. But I used to suck on the ripe red seeds. Thanks bunches.
Thanks for this recipe Whenever I see the vegetables in the Asian market, they all look delicious, however I don't know even what they are let alone how to cook them. Maybe you would consider doing a series on how to prepare all the different Asian vegetables. I would truly appreciate that. So next time I'm at the store I'm going to give the bitter melon a try. 😁
@@LT-pp1je Hi. I generally enjoy the darkest of the green vegetables. Thanks for the heads up. I'm still going to give it a go. I'll never know unless I try. Maybe I will purchase just one then. ☺
@@sunflowerbaby1853 to me, it is a similar taste to Epsom Salts. It's beyond bitter! If prepared correctly, the astringent properties seem to fade and the dish is quite edible. I must say that no one wants a second helping in my house!
@@dawnrobbins5877 Ok. 😁 With two of you commenting I believe you. It's really bitter. I'll skip it. I appreciate you saving me the time of cooking it only to be disappointed. ☺
A co-worker of my wife gave her some fresh bitter melon from her garden. I've seen bitter melon in Asian markets before but had absolutely no idea how to prepare it. Fortunately, I came across your recipe, Mandy, and it turned out to be very tasty! I love a little bitterness in vegetable dishes, and the paring of the garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and chiles was a great combination.
Bittermelon rocks! I use to cook it with garlic, ginger, douchi, yellow hot pepper and beef. I had it several ways but the way I had it in chinese restaurants is the one I cook it at home. But I don't rinse it; for me, the bitternes is a must in bittermelon :D
I love it! My family eats it every week in the summer. Full of vitamin C. I like to stirfry it with beef, baby corn a little brown sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. If you follow the "Souped Up Recipes" chef instructions of soaking it, you'll have no worries.
no you are not the only one… my grandma(filipina from cebu) would cook this… as a child i thought it was too bitter too but this recipe will bring me back to thinking of her and it is simple. thank you -ker
Ok, I'm going to try this. Watching this on Father's Day, and my dad was great pals with the produce guys. They turned him on to all the new and different (from middle American) fruits and vegetables. Thanks!!
I also make salad out of it. After slicing the bitter melon, I squeeze lemon or calamansi a filipino citrus. This draws out the bitter juices. I then add, onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes, to the sliced bitter melon and salt pepper to taste. This is a good side dish for fried meats like fish and pork.
A Pakistani Friend of mine stir fries them along with ground beef and fresh green chilies... Kinda like a curry. Yummy. I have too try your way as i don't know what bitter melon tastes like on its own.
Bitter melon is a traditional dish for Type 2 Diabetics (it works to lower blood glucose levels) . As a T2D - I cook/eat Bitter Melon on a regular basis. Rinsing the bitter melon with water or blanching it for a short time .e.g. 20 seconds will reduce the level of bitterness. For flavoring u can also add shave beef or chicken to it but garlic and hot chillies would be the most affordable way to season bitter melon... Adding the garlic and hot chillies will reduce the bitterness too. Bitter Melon is also the perfect home garden plant with almost no natural pest/enemies ...being too bitter to eat ...insects, birds, and other small mammals avoid eating or attacking it.
*Hi~~From Korea* *We also have bitter melon, but I've never had it for food, but for facial washing~~* 우리는 저것을 여주라고부르는데 세안용으로 쓰지만 볶아먹는것은 처음봐요 참 신기하네요^^👍👍👍🥒🥒🥒
You're not weird. You are, like me, growing up Asian... LOL! So we're used to the taste and overtime, come to love it! I love bitter melon so much, I can eat it any day. This and bamboo shoots, they are my absolute favorites.
I was at the greengrocer the other day and bought some bitter melon because I remembered watching this video before. I have all the ingredients and can't wait to prepare. My melon is bring salted right now... more later.
Thank you for this great recipe. I ended up omitting the chilli and putting in ginger as well as I also made a Szechuan eggplant dish. These two complemented each other well. So a big thank you. Easy to make and delicious. Can't wait to make it again.
Started growing bitter melon this year for medicinal purposes....and needed a good way to cook...thanks ...exciting about trying. Grows easily...and looks beautiful in the garden.
Childhood trauma with bittermelon but as an adult now i Love it! Saute it with garlic, Ginger Or onion with tomatoes, then sometimes with shrimp Or pork. Then finish it off with egg and its perfect with steam rice
My family is from Canton City, China but they emigrated & settled in Jamaica. We used to cook bitter melon frequently. But it was always with pork, as pork has a sweet taste due to the inherent fatty acids & glycerol. At times the inner seeds would be removed & the whole ones would be cut into tubes & filled with spicy marinated mince pork & steamed. But occasionally it would be cooked & accompanied with canned sardines in oil. Always was delicious!?
I bought this melon recently in San Francisco (yesterday) not knowing how to make it and your video was the first one that came up on my search, Thank You! I'm looking forward to making this tonight after work.
My mom made us eat bitter melon with the white sponge AND seeds since we were young. I used to hate it when I was a kid but you get accustomed to even the most bitter things with time.
Omg this plant is amazing! I see it every day in my local Chinese grocery and I decided to google the preparation. I followed your video to the T and I have to say I am in love with Bitter Mellon, and I love your video too. Thank you so much ❤ By the way I am Macedonian living in Australia so this was the first time I had the pleasure of having this vegetable. Thumbs way up!
I am so glad for your channel. We have a relatively new Asian market nearby and there are so many veggies and fruit that I do not know how to cook. We are very lucky.
So…as a total white guy, I made the dish tonight as I love Asian cuisine and wanted to try it having seen it many times in the markets. You do a great job of showing how to cook it and it made me really want to try it. Also love your accent. The only variation to this recipe was in using chopped Jalapeños instead of the fresh red or smoked chilis which I forgot to buy. Otherwise, the garlic, peppercorns, washing, salting, removing white parts, and chopping etc were identical. Note that I am VERY adventurous with foods (all my life) and love organ meats, fermented fish dishes, you name it. After tasting it, I was able to finish about half of what I took to try. Respectfully, bitter melon is firmly over the line of “acquired taste”. However for me, it was just on the margin of the next line which is “eat this or die of starvation”. 😊 The bitterness is quite impressive (and lingering) on the tongue although it does start with a slightly sweet vegetable note. Regardless, a belated thank you for posting this! Eat on!
Actually there are more than one kind of bitter melon. Some of them are much more bitter than others. Basic rule is that the bigger the bumps on the melon are, the more bitter it will taste - watch out for those with bumps that look like stalagmites.
@@jmcargonaut8368 Try stir-frying with something sweet like pork or prawns to take some of the bitterness out of the melons. I put lots of white onions too and it helps.
So interesting. I just bought bitter melon yesterday and searched for how to eat it and landed here. Awesome video! Thanks for making it. Yours looks delicious. I'm wondering.... 1. Do you suppose we are actually meant to eat the bitter melon when it is ripe...and it's actually a misnomer. As you said, it's sweet when your Grandma patient to ripen. Are we eating them prematurely (like eating an unripe grape) and are supposed to, in an ideal world, eat them ripe? Are we eating them incorrectly with regards to seasonality timing? Thoughts? 2. Do you think the interior with seeds has any medicinal or other value? 3. That's such a thick electric grill. It must be powerful. Mine is much thinner when laid on their side. 4. I prefer to use wood utensils. I feel that the wood functions equally well without the potential for minute but potentially toxic scrapings from toxic coated metal from the spoon. Have you ever thought of using wood?
Gonna try this...In Jamaica we use the plant to make tea...bitter but I have tolerance. As a child I use to suck on the melon when it's ripe/yellow with the insides being red (taste sweet). So now I want to try it when it's green... Pray for me 😃
Don't worry it's not weird that you like bitter melon. It's a part of your culture. Each culture and person is different. I love eating different foods from all over the world just to try something new at least once. Asian dishes are among my favorites dishes I've tried and some of them people I know would find them "weird".
I love bitter vegetables. Usually they are leafy green like broccoli rabe, mustard or turnip greens. Looking forward to trying the bitter melon. It’s resting in the salt right now.
Hi I made Bitter Melon as per your recipe and served it as a side with Taro steamed ribs and it came out delicious and quite complimentary to the richness of ribs and taro. Will be making this again for sure. Thank you!!!!!!!! Rebecca
That part about your parents telling you to endure the bitter taste was amazing. My parents just tells me if I eat it more there will come a time when it's not bitter anymore 😂😂😂😂
That’s actually true of some bitter foods like kola nut and orogbo which are eaten in Nigeria and otherAfrican countries. The more you chew it leans into sweetness. Salted umeboshi plums are kind of the same. When you’re ill, they don’t taste salty.
I looked at using bitter melons several time but not yet, but now you peaked my interest in the fully ripe melon. Can you find the ripe melon and show a dish for that 1 also because you said it is sweet. Thx. will look for a supply of sweet melons now that I know that they are out there. THX again and love ur channel, I always liked Chinese dishes but ur channel has now encourage me to cook the way you do. lol lol
My favourite recipe with this is with egg and chillies. I like the leaves in mung bean stew as well. Not many can tolerate bitterness level of this vegetable. We’re just few humans who can eat this.
I like bitter melon! I’ve only had it in Goya chanpuru, and the salty Spam seemed to cut down on the bitter taste. I would definitely give this a try! Thanks for the recipe
In indonesia the bitter melon is popular. And we stir-fry it too here. However... there are people who don't like it and cannot eat it. Similar to the durians.
I used to work for a homeless shelter that ran a large soup kitchen, serving hundreds of meals, and we relied on a lot of donated food to supply us. We got in two large boxes of them, but I didn't see "bitter melon" right away, figuring it was something akin to a squash or cucumber. I had tried everything I could think of to make it less bitter: salting, soaking, roasting, but I couldn't get it to a point where it would've been enjoyable for guests. Now I know to remove the white part. If I ever manage to get back to my local Asian market I might give this one a shot.
I've never tried Bitter Melon before but I knew it would be a challenge to actually eat it, but for a first time trying it the bitterness grew on me, and I found it hard to stop eating. Thanks for this simple recipe!
No you're not weird, me too. I love bitter melon. But the variety you used is not as bitter as the one grown in India. They are very small size with sharp ridges and they are extremely bitter. My mum used to use the same technique of salt that you did. But my mom never removed the white part or the seeds unless the seeds were very hard. So I do the same. In fact the one you used, I never soak it in salt as it's mild in bitterness, at least for me. Here is a quick Indian style recipe of my mom but you can use the variety that you used in this video ( no need to salt it or to remove any parts): Add into a wok some oil, heat it then add thickly sliced melon along with its white and soft seeds, add potatoe cut in wedges, add onion cut in wedges. Sprinkle salt, red pepper flakes, chilli powder and turmeric powder ( all according to your taste, I add more chilli flakes because I liked it spicy and it masks the bitterness. However, I've done another addition to it: I sprinkle a little of msg powder or chicken stalk powder ( if using stock powder be careful with the salt) and it just perks up the taste. Flip it upside down using flat spatula, never stir. Let it sit with half covered lid on med heat for few minutes. Flip again. Cook like this until you see every vegetable is getting crispier to some degree. Adjust taste and you're done. Serve it alone with white rice. (You can add ground meat to this dish too). This recipe is really good you'll love it if you like Indian style foods. My gift to you.
@humera ahsanullah Extremely bitter recipe. We Indians don't make it like this . Bittergourd never got fried as it's dry. So added water. Please don't give this recipe to any other Indian
Oh my! Bitter Melon was the only dish my mother-in-law made for me in the Caribbean that I couldn't stomach! I only knew it as Ugly Fruit. I will try it ONCE more using your recipe and see how it goes. 😁
I like bitter taste in vegetables, and it good for liver. I like how you made it and the comment about your parents. Thanks for teaching how cook this vegetable. Im sure it not bitter than scarlet eggplant and I love them.
I bought kuding tea and i didn't realize you were only supposed to use a couple leaves, I ended up using a heaping teaspoon or so for my cup. Afterwards nothing ever seemed to be as bitter and i love bitter veggies now.
Oh MAN!!!😱 WOW! bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter - lol I can't believe how much I LIKE this!✨💖🤗💖✨ YOU are my absolute favorite Asian cook-type person. PLUS I think you are a very beautiful woman. I also love that crazy Maangchi, but if I have to choose? hee hee I just can't choose between you two. You are both WONDERFUL and have taught me soooo much. THANK YOU!🌹
A friend's family also stuffs the bitter melon with ground beef or pork... it is delicious... my friend hates bitter melon but would always tell me when his Mom cooked some
this is an acquired taste. i used to dislike/hate it too. but knowing the health benefits, i forced myself to eat it when i was a young adult and learned how to love it.
Loved watching your video and your lovely delicate hands preparing it. Love cooking but I am SO slow! When I was at my local fruit and veggie market a couple of days ago I got 3 bitter melons for free so will follow your steps, albeit a little less chilli for me. Someone else commented they used ginger and I'm a ginger freak so will try some of that too.
Bitter Melon is one of my favorites, too. In particular during summer. And with this video I have another dish I can use it for. Thank's a lot. By the way, what brand and model is that gas stove you're using. I've been looking for a while now for something that doesn't look like outdoor cooking on a camping trip and the one you're using one seems to fit the bill...
I made it with garlic, ginger, oyster mushrooms, and chili crisp. I didn't do the best job removing all the white interior rind of the melon so despite the salting and rinsing it remained rather bitter. I will try it again though.
You are not the only one who love bitter Malone .. we Pakistanis also love them a lot. I am a huge fan of this veggie specially love to eat in summers. It's bitter but we love its taste. We cock it differently. We deep fry them and make delicious masala dish with these bitter things. In Pakistan we compare rude people with this veggie :-). I personally love to eat bitter Malone . it's one of my most favorite vegetable.🥒
You can cut the bittermelons in halves, take the spongy part out and stuff with a mix of Indian masala along with diced onions, green chillies, freshly prepared ginger- garlic paste. After stuffing bind the two halves with coarse cotton thread and deep fry in lots of oil. Stuffing can be any meat also
I love bitter melon and it tastes sweet to me. 🤣 We have lots of that in the Philippines and I could make lots of Chinese dishes with it. Thank you for the videos. :)
Yea, I'm same with you. When I was little, I don't understand why the adults love this bitter melon, especially my aunt. I tried it and didn't like it. But for some odd reason, I would try it again. Eventually I grew to like it. Who knew that bitterness can be tasty. So strange. lol
It’s an acquired taste just endure the bitter taste because it’s good for you. A lot beneficial nutrients specially if you are taking high blood pressure this is the best cure.
You,are not the only one.... We to look bitter melon, well I was kidding India my dad used to cook bitter melon for us I didn't like it back then but now I love it.
In our country we is cut it up put salt leave it for a little wild and squeeze the water out some time we put it out to dry in the sun and we also fry it
I am originally from Suriname in South America. We stuff the soporopo with seasoned beef, chicken or fish and than stew it in a gravy. Or I like to stir fry it with dried shrimp or smoked fish with lots of garlic an a touch of sugar and hot sauce or sambal. It is one of my favourite vegetable dishes. With jasmine rice. And it is very good for you. Greetings from the Netherlands
Love, love, love bitter melon! I like to slice it into rings after removing seeds and let the rings soak in milk. Then I make a tempura batter and deep fry them. Totally not a traditional way to prepare it, but my Chinese friend in China love it like this.
I like the wok you're using. Is it non stick ...can cook crab 🦀 ! Can I hv the name for it ...tks
My family, Hakka, came from Canton City in China more than a hundred years ago and ended up in Jamaica. We never squeezed the juice or cooked bitter melon (foogah) alone. It was always with pork. And yes, as a child I hated it, but as I got older I started to appreciate the bitter taste. I still oftentimes cook it with pork as pork has a characteristic sweetness, and really enjoy. In Jamaica, there is a native kind called cerasee. It's much smaller and not eaten. But I used to suck on the ripe red seeds. Thanks bunches.
Thanks for this recipe
Whenever I see the vegetables in the Asian market, they all look delicious, however I don't know even what they are let alone how to cook them. Maybe you would consider doing a series on how to prepare all the different Asian vegetables. I would truly appreciate that.
So next time I'm at the store I'm going to give the bitter melon a try. 😁
It’s an acquired taste so be careful. Buy only if you like very bitter foods and I don’t mean kale bitter. Kale is hardly bitter to me.
Thank you for the ideas, I will try to make that in the future.
@@LT-pp1je Hi. I generally enjoy the darkest of the green vegetables. Thanks for the heads up. I'm still going to give it a go. I'll never know unless I try. Maybe I will purchase just one then. ☺
@@sunflowerbaby1853 to me, it is a similar taste to Epsom Salts. It's beyond bitter! If prepared correctly, the astringent properties seem to fade and the dish is quite edible. I must say that no one wants a second helping in my house!
@@dawnrobbins5877
Ok. 😁 With two of you commenting I believe you. It's really bitter. I'll skip it. I appreciate you saving me the time of cooking it only to be disappointed. ☺
A co-worker of my wife gave her some fresh bitter melon from her garden. I've seen bitter melon in Asian markets before but had absolutely no idea how to prepare it. Fortunately, I came across your recipe, Mandy, and it turned out to be very tasty! I love a little bitterness in vegetable dishes, and the paring of the garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and chiles was a great combination.
try sweet and saur. recipe or Indian pickled guard if you can get hold of , both recipe is devine
@@sandeepdewan1920 that's the kind I used to eat. Spicy fried bitter gourd.
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5:18 😅890pĺm6?3
Bittermelon rocks! I use to cook it with garlic, ginger, douchi, yellow hot pepper and beef. I had it several ways but the way I had it in chinese restaurants is the one I cook it at home. But I don't rinse it; for me, the bitternes is a must in bittermelon :D
You're not the only one! Many of us enjoy bitter, pungent, sour, spicy tastes. This does not rule our lives but we can use this to enhance our lives.
My husband did that with eggs end tomatoes y more ingredients and is so delicious 🤤
I love it! My family eats it every week in the summer. Full of vitamin C. I like to stirfry it with beef, baby corn a little brown sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. If you follow the "Souped Up Recipes" chef instructions of soaking it, you'll have no worries.
It looks nice .
This is great, I grow and eat bitter melon (qugua) weekly based on a hunan recipe. This is very good for blood sugar!
I buy ripe bitter melon, deseed it, and juice it with cucumber, pineapple, and ginger. It’s really good for the skin and for digestion.
That reserved bitter juice is very healthy and you can drink it. Not kidding.
no you are not the only one… my grandma(filipina from cebu) would cook this… as a child i thought it was too bitter too but this recipe will bring me back to thinking of her and it is simple. thank you -ker
Ok, I'm going to try this. Watching this on Father's Day, and my dad was great pals with the produce guys. They turned him on to all the new and different (from middle American) fruits and vegetables. Thanks!!
I also make salad out of it. After slicing the bitter melon, I squeeze lemon or calamansi a filipino citrus.
This draws out the bitter juices.
I then add, onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes, to the sliced bitter melon and salt pepper to taste.
This is a good side dish for fried meats like fish and pork.
I love bitter melon! My mom use to make a soup with fermented black beans and stuff it with ground pork.
That sounds sooo good.
A Pakistani Friend of mine stir fries them along with ground beef and fresh green chilies... Kinda like a curry. Yummy. I have too try your way as i don't know what bitter melon tastes like on its own.
Yep! A well loved summer season veg for Pakistanis. Called "karela". We cook it with meat, mince, or just on its own.
Bitter melon is a traditional dish for Type 2 Diabetics (it works to lower blood glucose levels) . As a T2D - I cook/eat Bitter Melon on a regular basis. Rinsing the bitter melon with water or blanching it for a short time .e.g. 20 seconds will reduce the level of bitterness. For flavoring u can also add shave beef or chicken to it but garlic and hot chillies would be the most affordable way to season bitter melon... Adding the garlic and hot chillies will reduce the bitterness too. Bitter Melon is also the perfect home garden plant with almost no natural pest/enemies ...being too bitter to eat ...insects, birds, and other small mammals avoid eating or attacking it.
Yes, bitter melon is really good for health.
*Hi~~From Korea*
*We also have bitter melon, but I've never had it for food, but for facial washing~~*
우리는 저것을 여주라고부르는데 세안용으로 쓰지만 볶아먹는것은 처음봐요
참 신기하네요^^👍👍👍🥒🥒🥒
for skin?
@@yongkyeonglee5736 yha
You're not weird. You are, like me, growing up Asian... LOL! So we're used to the taste and overtime, come to love it! I love bitter melon so much, I can eat it any day. This and bamboo shoots, they are my absolute favorites.
I was at the greengrocer the other day and bought some bitter melon because I remembered watching this video before. I have all the ingredients and can't wait to prepare. My melon is bring salted right now... more later.
Love it with scrambled eggs. My husband’s aunt introduced me to it.
I grow bitter melons coz we love them. I stuffed them with a mix of pork.+fish+shrimp and freeze them for winter.
Thank you for this great recipe. I ended up omitting the chilli and putting in ginger as well as I also made a Szechuan eggplant dish. These two complemented each other well. So a big thank you. Easy to make and delicious. Can't wait to make it again.
Started growing bitter melon this year for medicinal purposes....and needed a good way to cook...thanks ...exciting about trying. Grows easily...and looks beautiful in the garden.
Childhood trauma with bittermelon but as an adult now i Love it! Saute it with garlic, Ginger Or onion with tomatoes, then sometimes with shrimp Or pork. Then finish it off with egg and its perfect with steam rice
My family is from Canton City, China but they emigrated & settled in Jamaica. We used to cook bitter melon frequently. But it was always with pork, as pork has a sweet taste due to the inherent fatty acids & glycerol. At times the inner seeds would be removed & the whole ones would be cut into tubes & filled with spicy marinated mince pork & steamed. But occasionally it would be cooked & accompanied with canned sardines in oil. Always was delicious!?
it took a long time for me to get used to bitter melon, but now i look forward to drinking bitter melon soup with pork bone every summer!
I totally agree with Micheal W. below. Except I use a Filipino bottle of seasoned shrimp mixture for additional flavor.
Masarup !!
One of my favourite vegetable!! The funny thing is I like it since I was a kid haha.
I bought this melon recently in San Francisco (yesterday) not knowing how to make it and your video was the first one that came up on my search, Thank You!
I'm looking forward to making this tonight after work.
I, too, love bitter-melon. I was brought up as a youngster to eat our ethnic foods. I am a Filipina born and reared in Hawaii.
My mom made us eat bitter melon with the white sponge AND seeds since we were young. I used to hate it when I was a kid but you get accustomed to even the most bitter things with time.
Will try this fibrous veggie, because bittermelon is good for reducing BS as well.
Omg this plant is amazing!
I see it every day in my local Chinese grocery and I decided to google the preparation.
I followed your video to the T and I have to say I am in love with Bitter Mellon, and I love your video too.
Thank you so much ❤
By the way I am Macedonian living in Australia so this was the first time I had the pleasure of having this vegetable. Thumbs way up!
Bitter melon with beef/pork/chicken is another favorite. Also bitter melon is an ingredient to pinakbet, a delicious local Filipino dish.
Check this Beef Stir Fry in Black Bean Sauce with bitter melon (豉汁牛肉炒苦瓜) ua-cam.com/video/0_Ldv0PgsEo/v-deo.html
My favorite
@@SoupedUpRecipes ok i will thanks 😊
Thank you for this recipe, I’ve seen the bitter melon in my local Asian store but had no idea how to use it. Will make a nice side dish.
Bittermelon is my favorite. I eat it often. I grew up with my dad cooking it several ways. 😋
I am so glad for your channel. We have a relatively new Asian market nearby and there are so many veggies and fruit that I do not know how to cook. We are very lucky.
So…as a total white guy, I made the dish tonight as I love Asian cuisine and wanted to try it having seen it many times in the markets. You do a great job of showing how to cook it and it made me really want to try it. Also love your accent. The only variation to this recipe was in using chopped Jalapeños instead of the fresh red or smoked chilis which I forgot to buy. Otherwise, the garlic, peppercorns, washing, salting, removing white parts, and chopping etc were identical. Note that I am VERY adventurous with foods (all my life) and love organ meats, fermented fish dishes, you name it. After tasting it, I was able to finish about half of what I took to try. Respectfully, bitter melon is firmly over the line of “acquired taste”. However for me, it was just on the margin of the next line which is “eat this or die of starvation”. 😊
The bitterness is quite impressive (and lingering) on the tongue although it does start with a slightly sweet vegetable note.
Regardless, a belated thank you for posting this! Eat on!
Actually there are more than one kind of bitter melon. Some of them are much more bitter than others. Basic rule is that the bigger the bumps on the melon are, the more bitter it will taste - watch out for those with bumps that look like stalagmites.
@@MTMF.london Thanks! My melons were quite “spiky”! Maybe I’ll try again, add more salt and get the smoked chilis…
@@jmcargonaut8368 Try stir-frying with something sweet like pork or prawns to take some of the bitterness out of the melons. I put lots of white onions too and it helps.
@@MTMF.london Excellent…I’ll try that for sure! Cheers!
So interesting. I just bought bitter melon yesterday and searched for how to eat it and landed here. Awesome video! Thanks for making it. Yours looks delicious.
I'm wondering....
1. Do you suppose we are actually meant to eat the bitter melon when it is ripe...and it's actually a misnomer. As you said, it's sweet when your Grandma patient to ripen. Are we eating them prematurely (like eating an unripe grape) and are supposed to, in an ideal world, eat them ripe? Are we eating them incorrectly with regards to seasonality timing? Thoughts?
2. Do you think the interior with seeds has any medicinal or other value?
3. That's such a thick electric grill. It must be powerful. Mine is much thinner when laid on their side.
4. I prefer to use wood utensils. I feel that the wood functions equally well without the potential for minute but potentially toxic scrapings from toxic coated metal from the spoon. Have you ever thought of using wood?
Gonna try this...In Jamaica we use the plant to make tea...bitter but I have tolerance. As a child I use to suck on the melon when it's ripe/yellow with the insides being red (taste sweet). So now I want to try it when it's green... Pray for me 😃
Don't worry it's not weird that you like bitter melon. It's a part of your culture.
Each culture and person is different. I love eating different foods from all over the world just to try something new at least once. Asian dishes are among my favorites dishes I've tried and some of them people I know would find them "weird".
I love bitter vegetables. Usually they are leafy green like broccoli rabe, mustard or turnip greens. Looking forward to trying the bitter melon. It’s resting in the salt right now.
Hi I made Bitter Melon as per your recipe and served it as a side with Taro steamed ribs and it came out delicious and quite complimentary to the richness of ribs and taro. Will be making this again for sure.
Thank you!!!!!!!!
Rebecca
That part about your parents telling you to endure the bitter taste was amazing. My parents just tells me if I eat it more there will come a time when it's not bitter anymore 😂😂😂😂
That’s actually true of some bitter foods like kola nut and orogbo which are eaten in Nigeria and otherAfrican countries. The more you chew it leans into sweetness. Salted umeboshi plums are kind of the same. When you’re ill, they don’t taste salty.
The small ones are really good too. We eat it raw with a veggie dip made with fermented fish.
I finally tried this vegetable...yes, it is just as bitter as everyone says! I dont think i will have it again, but i enjoyed trying something new
I looked at using bitter melons several time but not yet, but now you peaked my interest in the fully ripe melon. Can you find the ripe melon and show a dish for that 1 also because you said it is sweet. Thx. will look for a supply of sweet melons now that I know that they are out there. THX again and love ur channel, I always liked Chinese dishes but ur channel has now encourage me to cook the way you do. lol lol
I love it when it's stir fried with a little dried shrimp
Thank you for your video. I just bought bitter Mellon from the farmers market today. I will try your recipe tomorrow. 😊
I LOVE bitter! I have seen this the Asian grocery store but never knew what it was! I’m making this tomorrow after I pick some up! Many thanks, Mandy!
Was wondering if you ever got around to cooking bitter melon and if so, what did it taste like and did you enjoy it? - much appreciated - Cheers
One of my favorites, cooked with salty garlic black bean. I will now try your recipe. Thanks.
Yes. Cooked with salty garlic black bean and throw in some ground beef or pork, it will be delicious.
I see bitter melon in the grocery store all the time and think I’d like to try it. Now I will.
Thanks Mandy
Your not the only one. I love anything bitter. I need this recipie.
My favourite recipe with this is with egg and chillies. I like the leaves in mung bean stew as well. Not many can tolerate bitterness level of this vegetable. We’re just few humans who can eat this.
Never had bitter melon leaves. Will see if I can get some and give it a try. Sound interesting.
I like bitter melon! I’ve only had it in Goya chanpuru, and the salty Spam seemed to cut down on the bitter taste. I would definitely give this a try! Thanks for the recipe
In indonesia the bitter melon is popular. And we stir-fry it too here. However... there are people who don't like it and cannot eat it.
Similar to the durians.
I used to work for a homeless shelter that ran a large soup kitchen, serving hundreds of meals, and we relied on a lot of donated food to supply us. We got in two large boxes of them, but I didn't see "bitter melon" right away, figuring it was something akin to a squash or cucumber. I had tried everything I could think of to make it less bitter: salting, soaking, roasting, but I couldn't get it to a point where it would've been enjoyable for guests. Now I know to remove the white part. If I ever manage to get back to my local Asian market I might give this one a shot.
I see that I am not the only one who likes it Filipino style with egg. Yes Dried Chili is always a nice addition.
I've never tried Bitter Melon before but I knew it would be a challenge to actually eat it, but for a first time trying it the bitterness grew on me, and I found it hard to stop eating. Thanks for this simple recipe!
It actually called bittegord.
No you're not weird, me too. I love bitter melon. But the variety you used is not as bitter as the one grown in India. They are very small size with sharp ridges and they are extremely bitter. My mum used to use the same technique of salt that you did. But my mom never removed the white part or the seeds unless the seeds were very hard. So I do the same. In fact the one you used, I never soak it in salt as it's mild in bitterness, at least for me. Here is a quick Indian style recipe of my mom but you can use the variety that you used in this video ( no need to salt it or to remove any parts):
Add into a wok some oil, heat it then add thickly sliced melon along with its white and soft seeds, add potatoe cut in wedges, add onion cut in wedges. Sprinkle salt, red pepper flakes, chilli powder and turmeric powder ( all according to your taste, I add more chilli flakes because I liked it spicy and it masks the bitterness. However, I've done another addition to it: I sprinkle a little of msg powder or chicken stalk powder ( if using stock powder be careful with the salt) and it just perks up the taste. Flip it upside down using flat spatula, never stir. Let it sit with half covered lid on med heat for few minutes. Flip again. Cook like this until you see every vegetable is getting crispier to some degree. Adjust taste and you're done. Serve it alone with white rice. (You can add ground meat to this dish too).
This recipe is really good you'll love it if you like Indian style foods. My gift to you.
@humera ahsanullah Extremely bitter recipe. We Indians don't make it like this . Bittergourd never got fried as it's dry. So added water. Please don't give this recipe to any other Indian
Thanks for Your Recipe, it sounds delicious and I'm going to try it! 🙏🌻
Absolutely love bitter melon so you’re not alone. I’ve known of only two of my friends that love it too
Thank you. Just bought two spikey ones...Im gonna cook this for the First time ever... :)
Oh my! Bitter Melon was the only dish my mother-in-law made for me in the Caribbean that I couldn't stomach! I only knew it as Ugly Fruit. I will try it ONCE more using your recipe and see how it goes. 😁
I like bitter taste in vegetables, and it good for liver. I like how you made it and the comment about your parents. Thanks for teaching how cook this vegetable. Im sure it not bitter than scarlet eggplant and I love them.
I bought kuding tea and i didn't realize you were only supposed to use a couple leaves, I ended up using a heaping teaspoon or so for my cup. Afterwards nothing ever seemed to be as bitter and i love bitter veggies now.
Oh MAN!!!😱 WOW! bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter - lol
I can't believe how much I LIKE this!✨💖🤗💖✨
YOU are my absolute favorite Asian cook-type person. PLUS I think you are a very beautiful woman. I also love that crazy Maangchi, but if I have to choose? hee hee I just can't choose between you two. You are both WONDERFUL and have taught me soooo much. THANK YOU!🌹
A friend's family also stuffs the bitter melon with ground beef or pork... it is delicious... my friend hates bitter melon but would always tell me when his Mom cooked some
I love the bitter melon with eggs and tomatoes is to good.
I don't soak....I eat all the bitterness. Ie where the nutrients are. Luv your method of cutting the melons.
Great alternative recipe, bitter gourd is very popular in South Asian cuisine, but this method of preparation appears much healthier.
I grew up eating this in Trinidad love it it keep blood sugar down
this is an acquired taste. i used to dislike/hate it too. but knowing the health benefits, i forced myself to eat it when i was a young adult and learned how to love it.
I buy it at the local Asian grocery, dehydrate them and make tea with them.
Me too 👍
Is it good for anything?
@@samiraadams6980 Certainly. Lowers blood sugar, contains lots of fiber and vitamins
We grow bitter melon in our backyard garden every spring and harvest fruits summertime through fall.
I like bitter vegetables. I am Italian. We have bitter greens that are very tasty.
I’m making this tomorrow. I have all the ingredients already. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for not going on and on. Straight to the point and quick. Looks yummy. I’m weird too. I like bitter things!
Loved watching your video and your lovely delicate hands preparing it. Love cooking but I am SO slow! When I was at my local fruit and veggie market a couple of days ago I got 3 bitter melons for free so will follow your steps, albeit a little less chilli for me. Someone else commented they used ginger and I'm a ginger freak so will try some of that too.
Bitter Melon is one of my favorites, too. In particular during summer. And with this video I have another dish I can use it for. Thank's a lot. By the way, what brand and model is that gas stove you're using. I've been looking for a while now for something that doesn't look like outdoor cooking on a camping trip and the one you're using one seems to fit the bill...
Love bitter vegetables, bitter melon is wonderful!
I made it with garlic, ginger, oyster mushrooms, and chili crisp. I didn't do the best job removing all the white interior rind of the melon so despite the salting and rinsing it remained rather bitter. I will try it again though.
I love and also have bitter melon in my garden.
I should grow them too.
I love bittermelon and the leaves as well, ill have it 2 to 3 times in week
You are not the only one who love bitter Malone .. we Pakistanis also love them a lot. I am a huge fan of this veggie specially love to eat in summers. It's bitter but we love its taste. We cock it differently. We deep fry them and make delicious masala dish with these bitter things. In Pakistan we compare rude people with this veggie :-). I personally love to eat bitter Malone . it's one of my most favorite vegetable.🥒
Bitter melon is popular in Vietnam. I personally think the more bitter the better.
I love bitter melon. I used to grow it here in Fargo North Dakota but I haven’t been able to fine seeds in recent years.
You can buy the seeds on ebay.
You can buy the seeds through Amazon. I have white bitter melon vines growing in my garden in WA state…from seeds bought on Amazon.
You can cut the bittermelons in halves, take the spongy part out and stuff with a mix of Indian masala along with diced onions, green chillies, freshly prepared ginger- garlic paste. After stuffing bind the two halves with coarse cotton thread and deep fry in lots of oil. Stuffing can be any meat also
OMG I love bitter melon! I prefer it super bitter tho lol
Me too, I never spread salt on it. Love juicing it too. So refreshing during the hot summer days
I cook this un many ways.
I love bitter melon and it tastes sweet to me. 🤣 We have lots of that in the Philippines and I could make lots of Chinese dishes with it. Thank you for the videos. :)
Yea, I'm same with you. When I was little, I don't understand why the adults love this bitter melon, especially my aunt. I tried it and didn't like it. But for some odd reason, I would try it again. Eventually I grew to like it. Who knew that bitterness can be tasty. So strange. lol
Just an observation. The title should say 'seen', not 'seem'. I love your vegetable recipes!!
@SariJiGo
She fixed it - yay! But did not thank you - boo.
@@lisahinton9682 hahahaha
It’s an acquired taste just endure the bitter taste because it’s good for you. A lot beneficial nutrients specially if you are taking high blood pressure this is the best cure.
I just cooked this recipe for lunch! Yum. I love bitter melon but yours has some spice which I like.
Watched this video to learn how to prepare this vegetable and learned some great tips - thanks!
It honestly took me a while to enjoy bitter melon but as I got older I appreciate it more
You,are not the only one....
We to look bitter melon, well I was kidding India my dad used to cook bitter melon for us I didn't like it back then but now I love it.
New to your channel and I love it here! My kids and I have been binge watching your chanel!
In our country we is cut it up put salt leave it for a little wild and squeeze the water out some time we put it out to dry in the sun and we also fry it