Start every meal with a healthy serving of salad, such as my hot and crispy bitter melon salad. It is the perfect salad for a gluten-free, vegan, and low-carb meal.
Pair this dish with more bitter melon dishes like bitter melon with pork stuffing. Whether you eat it with rice or as a main meal, you can enjoy it as is.
All About Bitter Melon Salad
Bitter melon is also known as bitter gourd, bitter squash, or bitter cucumber, to name a few. It gets its name because of its strong, bitter taste. The more it ripens, the more it tastes bitter.
This plant is widely available in Asia, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. You can use bitter melon for stir-fries, curries, stuffed meats, and steamed dishes. The texture of bitter melon is crunchy and watery, like a green bell pepper and cucumber.
You typically eat this with the skin and when light or dark green. Although it can be eaten raw, eating it cooked is better when the bitterness is more mellow. In this recipe, we cook it with seasonings and add some chili peppers for heat to combat the bitterness.
How To Reduce The Bitterness Of Bitter Melon
There are several techniques you can do to tone down the bitterness and make it more pleasant to eat. It may not completely lose the bitterness, but it will drastically reduce it. Here are some tips to try to help you with the dish:
- Soak in salt and water
- Marinate in salt
- Blanch in boiling water and salt
- After blanching, rinse in cold water to wash away leftover bitter residue
- Season with a bit of sugar to balance out the bitterness
- Add red chili or hot peppers to mask the bitterness
Suggestions & Alternatives For Bitter Melon Salad
This recipe can be customized in numerous ways by altering the ingredients according to what you have. To help you know about each ingredient and why it makes the dish excellent, I share below their purpose and how it affects the overall dish. I also included some suggestions on which alternatives to use in case an ingredient is not available to you.
- Bitter melon: Buy fresh bitter melon with green skin without spots or molds. It should be firm to the touch and not too soft or wrinkled. Alternatively, you can buy canned or prepackaged ones.
- Oil: Any cooking oil will do for this recipe. It will be used for blanching and when drizzling over the salad. Use olive, avocado, sesame, or safflower oil for a more healthy alternative. For neutral flavor, go for peanut, soybean, or vegetable oil.
- Garlic: Garlic also balances out the bitter flavors with its nutty and pungent taste. Use minced garlic or crispy fried garlicif you have it. If you don’t have garlic but want the garlicky flavors, you can swap 1 clove of garlic with 1/8 tsp of garlic powder or 1/4 tsp of granulated garlic. This will give you the garlicky kick without the chunks of garlic cloves.
- Chili peppers: You can use green or red chili peppers to make the dish spicy and hot. This helps mask the bitter flavors of bitter melon as well. If you like it hot but don’t have chili peppers, you can replace 1 whole chili pepper with 1/4 tsp chili flakes. You can also omit this from the recipe if you are not into spicy foods.
- White sesame seeds: White sesame seeds are crunchy and have a nutty flavor. It can be substituted with black sesame seeds, which are generally more potent. No need to worry if you don’t have sesame seeds since they won’t make a drastic difference in taste or texture.
- Light soy sauce: Soy sauce adds umami and salty flavors to the dish. If you don’t have light soy sauce, you can use dark soy sauce, tamari, liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or gluten-free soy sauce. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
- Bouillon powder: Bouillon cubes or powders enhance the flavor of the dish. In my recipe, I used chicken bouillon powder, but you can use vegetable powder to make it vegan or vegetarian. Aside from cubes or powders, you can also use canned broth or Italian seasoning mix.
- For extra texture and flavor: Lastly, we add sliced onions and peanuts for extra texture and flavor. You get the sweet and peppery flavors with a bit of crunch with onions. On the other hand, peanuts are great for salads and sauté dishes for their delightful crunch and nutty flavor.
What Ingredients To Use For Bitter Melon Salad
Since the recipe only requires blanching the bitter melon, you just need the following kitchen tools:
- Knife and chopping board
- Cooking pan or pot
- Spatula
- Mixing bowl or serving bowl
All the ingredients can be cooked and mixed in the same cooking pan. Here’s the complete list of ingredients for the recipe:
- 200g Bitter melon (thinly sliced)
- 500ml Water
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Cooking oil
- 20g Minced garlic
- 20g Small chili pepper (red or green)
- 10g White sesame
- 80g Hot oil
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Chicken or vegetable bouillon powder
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 30g Onion shreds
- 20g peanuts
Instructions On How To Make Bitter Melon Salad
For the most part, the recipe is focused on cutting, cleaning, and blanching the bitter melon. The easiest part of the recipe is mixing the rest of the seasonings with the blanched bitter melon. Watch a quick recap of the recipe instructions through my Instagram and Tiktok videos.
Cut the bitter melon in half in the middle lengthwise and scrape off the pulp.
Then, slice the bitter melon into thin slices, about half a centimeter.
Place the bitter melon slices in a bowl of water and sprinkle a little salt.
Let them soak for 10 minutes.
In a pan, bring water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil.
Once it boils, add the bitter melon slices and blanch for one minute.
After one minute, rinse the blanched bitter melon slices in cold water and drain.
In a heat-resistant bowl, toss together bitter melon slices, minced garlic, small chili pepper, and white sesame seeds.
Then, pour hot oil over the ingredients for added aroma. The hot oil should sizzle as it lightly cooks the ingredients.
Next, add salt, chicken or vegetable bouillon powder, light soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, onion shreds, and peanuts.
Mix all the ingredients well.
Enjoy it as a side dish for your main meal.
Hot & Crispy Bitter Melon Salad
Equipment
- Knife and chopping board
- Cooking pan or pot
- Spatula
- Mixing bowl or serving bowl
Ingredients
- 200 g Bitter melon thinly sliced
- 500 ml Water
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Cooking oil
- 20 g Minced garlic
- 20 g Small chili pepper red or green
- 10 g White sesame
- 80 g Hot oil
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Chicken or vegetable bouillon powder
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 30 g Onion shreds
- 20 g peanuts
Instructions
- Cut the bitter melon in half in the middle lengthwise and scrape off the pulp.
- Then, slice the bitter melon into thin slices, about half a centimeter.
- Place the bitter melon slices in a bowl of water and sprinkle a little salt.
- Let them soak for 10 minutes.
- In a pan, bring water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil.
- Once it boils, add the bitter melon slices and blanch for one minute.
- After one minute, rinse the blanched bitter melon slices in cold water and drain.
- In a heat-resistant bowl, toss together bitter melon slices, minced garlic, small chili pepper, and white sesame seeds.
- Then, pour hot oil over the ingredients for added aroma. The hot oil should sizzle as it lightly cooks the ingredients.
- Next, add salt, chicken or vegetable bouillon powder, light soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, onion shreds, and peanuts.
- Mix all the ingredients well.
- Enjoy it as a side dish for your main meal.
