I went home a few weekends ago and my parents cooked up some good old fashioned home cooked Chinese food.
My dad made a chicken mushroom dish and also a chinese-style curry chicken which we dip with french bread or eat with rice noodles. My mom made bitter melon soup, a acquired taste for sure. The bitter melon is truly bitter but very nutritious. I like to eat it with eggs some times.
Here is some info about Bitter melon that I picked out from wikipedia:
Bitter melon is often used in Chinese cooking for its bitter flavor, typically in stir-fries (often with pork and douchi), soups, and also as tea.Bitter melons stuffed with ground pork are served as a popular summer soup in the South.
Like most bitter-tasting foods, bitter melon stimulates digestion. Bitter melon is traditionally regarded by Asians, as well as Panamanians and Colombians, as useful for preventing and treating malaria.
Laboratory tests suggest that compounds in bitter melon might be effective for treating HIV infection and diabetes.
Curry Chicken made with coconut milk, curry powder, spices, chicken, and other ingredients
Curry Chicken with rice vermicelli noodles
Bitter melon stuffed with mushroom, pork meat, and noodles
Bitter Melon awaiting the pot
INGREDIENTS: (4 servings as part of a meal)
3 pieces of black (wood ear) mushroom, re-hydrated in warm water, and finely chopped
2/3 lb. ground pork
1 shallot, finely minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 egg
2 med/large bitter melon, cut into 1 1/2 – 2 inch segments, removing spongy center and seeds
1 quart quality chicken stock
1 Tbl. fish sauce
1 small rock sugar cube or 1 tsp. raw sugar
STEPS:
Thoroughly combine the first 7 ingredients (black mushroom, pork, shallot, garlic, egg, S+P) in a bowl.
Equally divide and stuff the mixture among the bitter melon segments.
Bring chicken stock to a rolling boil and add the stuffed bitter melon.
Add the fish sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil.
Then, turn down the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
At this point, the stuffing should be cooked through, the bitter melon should be tender and its color has changed from jade green to olive green.
Taste the soup and add more fish sauce if necessary. Serve with steamed rice.
Bon appétit!
Tasty Chomps rating !!!
5 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS!!!!!
(because it was made with tender loving care of my parents)
It looks really good. Can you post a recipe?
Where do you get bitter melon in the Orlando area? Perhaps one of the places on Colonial?
I've been on a kick of growing unusual Asian vegetables in the yard, so perhaps I need to get hold of some of these melon seeds and give them a try…
My grandma used to grow some in our back yard. It seemed relatively easy but you need some type of fence like structure for it to grow on like this cause it grows on a vine:
http://yourhomegardenblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/bitter-melon-trellis.jpg
I think you can get seeds at Saigon Market on colonial drive near mills ave and if you just want the bitter melons, you can get them there i think or if not try any of the other asian groceries.
this is a warning though, it is an acquired taste and even some vietnamese people i know (my little sisters particularly) do not enjoy bitter melon. it has a sharp bitter taste to it and you have to make sure you cook it well before you eat it because eating it too raw would be too strong…if you don't have time to make the stuffed bitter melon soup with it, sometimes the groceries have it chopped up into slices that you can use for soup or making an omelette with. its great with rice and fish sauce but again make sure to cook the bitter melon thoroughly lol
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2549167091_88cda37a02.jpg?v=0