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