Bitter melon or bitter gourd (Momordica charantia, goya in Japanese, kugua in Chinese) is one of those vegetables that are extremely healthy, apparently – and a particularly bitter medicine.
The recipe is one of the Chinese vegetable recipes that are really simple.
The combination of egg and salt with bitter melon is a great way of approaching this vegetable.
These two ingredients – egg, and salt – nicely dampen the bitterness, making it easier to learn to enjoy bitter melon even if you don’t have a wife making you eat it:
Kugua Chaodan – Bitter Melon Fried Egg
One of the standard Chinese ways of preparing bitter melon, good for beginners
Ingredients
- 1 bitter melon
- 1 egg
- salt
Instructions
- Half the bitter melon lengthwise, remove the seeds and pulp with a spoon.
- Cut the de-seeded bitter melon into thin slices (half-moons).
- Stir-fry the bitter melon slices in a bit of hot oil (just to get them done and maybe a bit softer, though they won't be really soft, nor get browned).
- Crack the egg into the pan, stir-fry to cook and mix with the bitter melon.
- Add salt.