Goya chanpuru, Okinawan Bitter Melon Stir Fry

The Carrboro Farmers' Market usually has a surprise or two lurking in with the boxes and boxes of tomatoes and eggplants. This visit, I was greeted by a small pile of bitter melon at the first stand. Because I usually make one pass at the market before I buy anything, I was worried that someone would buy all of the bitter melon before I could get to it (haha). The market was packed and I didn't have a lot of patience after having to fight through isles and stands where people were standing around having conversations in the worst place physically possible (if only I had taken fluid dynamics, I could have at least distracted myself with physics). After braving people and a blueberry spill at the bitter melon stand, I at last secured two smallish bitter melons. The woman working the stand asked if I had eaten bitter melon before. Naturally, I lied. I've had arguments at stands before where vendors tried to talk me out of buying things and I didn't feel like getting lectured—a tiny delicate flower such as myself cannot possibly tolerate spicy, bitter, or flavorful foods.

Yes, I realize that she was probably going to offer friendly advice on how to prepare it and she probably could have helped me to pick riper and less bitter melons. But I am to personal interactions as coarse sandpaper is to your face. The melons were mostly the same color anyway. Bitter melons start off dark green with white pulpy interiors and eventually ripen and turn yellow and split open to reveal bright red pulp and seeds. They become less bitter as they ripen, so a lighter more yellowish green is desirable, to a point. The fruit of the melon is too mushy and bitter to eat when it turns yellow/yellowish orange.

You can see that mine were pretty dark green. Another way to mitigate the bitterness is to blanch the melons. You can also salt and drain them. I went the salting route in order to keep as much crispness to the melon before cooking as possible.

Bitter melons are prized for their pleasantly bitter flavor (when properly prepared) and their reported cooling effect. They are also many health benefit claims from aiding digestion to lowering blood glucose (always a welcome side effect, given Ten-Forward's proclivity towards dessert). I halved my melons, lengthwise, and scooped out the pith and seeds. I then chopped the melon into half inch slices. Curious, I bit into a piece. The texture was like a cross between a cucumber and a bell pepper. It was bitter, but not terribly so, until the aftertaste: it had that familiar medicinally bitter taste. I was not tempted to spit the piece or vomit, which I took as a good sign. It was certainly edible and I was interested in tasting it after salting and eating it with other food.

One thing I left out of the stir fry was the pork. Pork is not cooked in Ten-Forward when Shira is around. I didn't replace the pork with another protein. I think the balance of the dish was thrown off. Perhaps I should have added more egg (keeping it at least ovo-vegetarian) but I think some other meat would be better. The melon was bitter but was delicious with the pieces of egg. It was slightly less bitter after salting, cooking, and coating with sweet miso sauce. Not bad, but definitely better paired with something else.

Would I try bitter melon again? Yes. I would even try goya chanpuru again. There are many different ways to prepare this vegetable, from soups to stir frys to even deep frying it. It was far from the most bitter thing I have ever eaten and I think that in a well balanced dish, the bitterness is very enjoyable.

Goya Chanpuru [ゴーヤチャンプルー]

You can watch this dish be prepared (not by me, of course) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp-a5y8rY28. Cooking with Dog is a wonderful channel for learning to make Japanese food and is one of my favorite Japanese cooking resources (a nice way of saying, expect more posts of Japanese food from here).

Makes two servings

2 medium sized bitter melons or one large melon
salt
half of a chopped onion
half a block of firm tofu
2 eggs
pinch of pepper

Sauce

2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp sake
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce

Katsuobushi, for garnish

1.) Prepare the bitter melon and tofu

Cut the melon(s) in half, lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds and white pith. Chop the melon into half inch slices. Place the pieces in a bowl and salt them. Wrap the tofu in a paper towel and set a weight on it. Allow both to sit for half an hour. Rinse the bitter melon and drain. Wipe the tofu with a dry paper towel and cut into half inch slices.

2.) Precook ingredients

The key to stir fry is to remember that, usually, the ingredients do not cook at the same rate. By the time the tofu is browned, the eggs would be tiny, tough blobs and the melon overcooked and mushy. Precooking lets you control when everything will be done. Heat up a pan on medium-high heat with a tablespoon or so of oil. Add the tofu and cook until browned on both sides. If you didn't drain the tofu well, it will spit hot oil everywhere. After the tofu is browned, I precooked the onions. If you like crisper onions, you can cook them alongside the bitter melon later. Finally, beat the two eggs with a bit of salt and pepper and cook them half way. Enough that they will congeal together, not create an omelet. This keeps the eggs from overcooking and becoming rubbery in the stir fry while keeping the eggs in larger chunks.

3.)Prepare the miso sauce

Combine the miso, soy sauce, sake, and sugar. Set aside.

4.) Assemble the stir fry

Heat the pan back up to medium high. Add a bit of oil and then stir fry the bitter melon (and the onions, if not precooked) until the melon is softened, about a minute or two. Add the tofu, onions, and sauce. Toss to coat. Add the eggs and stir to mix in and to finish cooking the eggs. When the eggs are cooked, remove and plate. Top with katsuobushi, if desired.