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Qingjiao Chao Kugua - Green Chile-Fried Bitter Melon

A standard Hunan way of preparing bitter melon, not for the faint of taste bud
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese

Ingredients
  

  • 1 bitter melon
  • 1 handful green chilli low-to-medium pungency
  • 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).
  • Chop the chile pepper. (De-seed it and remove the placenta if you want to get the dish less spicy. That also helps not to burn the seeds, if you use a hot gas flame, but it's not usually done in China.)
  • 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).
  • Add the chilli and fry it for a few minutes together with the bitter melon slices. (The chilli, also and especially, shouldn't get burned, so don't fry it for too long or too hot - the aroma is intense, anyways.)
  • Add salt.
Keyword bitter melon