Bitter Melon Stir-Fried with Egg and Red Pepper

Goya Champuru

I was looking for a vegetable to serve with my fried rice, and saw these at Uwajimaya.  

Bitter Melon?  Never tried it.  Since I knew I would like the fried rice, I was feeling adventurous.

Now, in the book, it says that this dish is one of her favorite Japanese dishes, so my confidence is high that I’ll be in good shape- even though I’ve never worked with this before.

I used a melon baller to scoop out the insides.  It is sort of fleshy, on the inside- like a hard zucchini.

I then used a mandolin to slice thin.

These are stir fried with a dried chili pepper, oil, and sea salt.

After about four minutes, egg gets stirred in until set.  Immediately pop on a plate so it’s still hot.

Mark nor I had ever had bitter melon before.  Upon first bite Mark said, “Whoa.  That’s crazy.”  I don’t usually take that as a good sign when it comes to food.

I took a bite.  Holy Moly.  BITTER Melon is right.  I can say I’ve NEVER tasted anything quite like it… nor do I want to again.  One bite was enough.  I think it must be an acquired taste that I’m not going to put effort into acquiring.

SO… good thing we liked the fried rice.

From Japanese Farm Food