I remember a vietnamese friend of mine who made a pork stuffed Bitter Melon Soup. I love the taste of that soup so I have the craving to make some, specially that my Bitter Melon plant had produced enough fruits due for harvesting.
Warning: If you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant, or breast feeding, please, please don’t consume this fruit. For those who have never eaten this fruit before, just be cautious and or totally avoid it. Negative reaction upon ingestion had been cited in some articles that I read here in the U.S.
The fruits and leaves of Bitter Melon are commonly eaten in most Asian countries. It is shuned or feared in the U.S. due to inconclusive research done by a lot of pharmaceutical companies. The possible inconclusive benefits such as anticancer, antidiabetic, antiparasitic effect etc. are overshadowed by the plant’s abortifacient and other teratogenic effects. It is ironic that countries whose populations eat the fruit or other part of the plants produce more children.
Ingredients I used
Meat Stuffing
1/4 tsp basil
1/4tsp parsley
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic – minced
!/4 cup onion – diced fine.
1 oz rice Vermicilli – soaked for 10 minutes then cut in 2 to 3-inch long strands.
1/8 tsp salt or more if more fluid is added.
1 oz black olive – sliced and drained
1 egg
1/4 lb ground pork or chicken
1 large bitter melon or 2 to 3 small ones.
Soup
2 cups water
1 cup chicken broth or chicken bone broth
Green onions – chopped.
Preparation
Slit Bitter Melon lengthwise without cutting the middle part of the other side of the melon. Cut a 1 inch slit at both ends of the other side just enough to pry open the melon. Remove the pulp and seeds with the use of teaspoon or its end. Set aside. Beat the egg until eggwhite and eggyolk are well blended. Set aside. On a medium size
Place the meat in small mixing bowl and sprinkle it with one of the spices. Using your hand, mix the spice into the meat thoroughly. Repeat the same process for each remaining seasoning or spice until all of them are used.
Add the drained Vermicille noodle, black olive, salt and egg to the mixture. Mix thoroughly. Stuff the mixture inside the Bitter Melon. Do not pack the stuffing mixture too full inside the bitter melon as the rice vermiccilli will expand. Use a cooking cotton cord to tie and close the bittermelon shut at both ends and middle.
If there is extra stuffing, shape them into balls and add to the soup
Making The Soup
Place the stuffed Bitter Melon in a kettle big enough to accomodate all ingedients. Add the 2 cups water and the 1 cup chicken broth. Place the Kettle on stove top and turn heat on high setting. Cover the kettle until liquid start to boil. Let lid vent so fluid will not overflow. Cook until bitter melon and meat are done about 45 mins.
When meat and Bitter Melon are well done, add the green onions and turn off the heat. Cover completely for 10 mins to cook the green onions. If a big Bitter Melon is used in the recipe, cut it across in 3 to 4 serving portions. Serve warm.
The soup is good for 3 to 4 people.
Eve's Handiwork 