If you love stir-fried vegetables like stir-fried bok choy and mushrooms and stir-fried sweet potato leaves with garlic, this is another recipe to add to your list. It is a nutritious side dish or main meal packed with bitter melon slices, scrambled eggs, and garlic. Throw in some Thai chili pepper for extra heat to counter the flavors of bitter melon.
Bitter Melon Stir-Fried With Eggs
Bitter melon, as the name suggests, is a bitter-tasting vegetable that does not have any sweetness at all. It looks like a cucumber but with wrinkled and warty skin. It is also known as bitter gourd, bitter squash, or bitter cucumber, to name a few.
It has a strong bitter taste because of its quinine content. As a matter of fact, it gets more bitter the more it ripens. However, there are several ways to tone down its bitterness, including salting, blanching, or adjusting the seasoning.
You can use bitter melon for stir-fries, stuffed meats, and steamed recipes and it can be cooked with the skin on as long as the pith and seeds are removed.
In this recipe, I cook it with scrambled eggs and chili peppers. It gives you the crunchy and watery texture of the bitter melon and the soft and eggy scrambled eggs.
If you have leftover bitter melons from this recipe, use it for the following recipes:
5 Best Ways To Make Bitter Melons Less Bitter
When I cooked bitter melon for the first time, I didn’t know that there were several ways to tone down its bitterness. In fact, I didn’t even bother to research about it and just accepted that it was going to be bitter. As you have guessed, my bitter melon dish was unbearably bitter, I couldn’t really stand it.
That is why I have never really enjoyed eating bitter melon and often wondered why other people love it so much. Until one day, a friend of mine asked if I used these techniques to reduce its bitterness. I was shocked to know that there are ways to lessen the bitterness!
After following my friend’s advice, ever since then, I have enjoyed making bitter melon dishes. And so, don’t make the same mistake as I did. Follow these five methods to make bitter melons better-tasting.
- First, remove the seeds, scoop out the white flesh, and scrape off the bumpy parts of the skin. Removing these parts of the bitter melon, especially the bumpy warty skin helps reduce the bitterness. Though it won’t completely remove the bitterness, it will surely lessen its intensity. Make sure to do this step before proceeding with the other techniques below.
- Second, rub with salt and wash with water. Salt is key in drawing out moisture from the bitter melon. As it absorbs the moisture, it also takes out some of the bitter flavors. In this recipe, I rub the bitter melon slices with salt and rinse them with water. I squeeze out as much water as I can to lessen the bitterness. If you have extra time, you can soak the bitter melon slices with salt for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Third, blanch with salt and water. In a pot, add salt and water and bring to a boil. After the water boils, add the bitter melon slices and blanch for about 2 to 5 minutes. Then, drain the water and soak the bitter melon slices in cold water for a few minutes in order to stop it from further cooking. In this way, it preserves its slight crunch and does not make it soggy.
- Fourth, soak in salt and water. Similar to technique #2, this technique requires soaking it in a bowl of water with salt for a few minutes. After soaking, drain and rinse it again with water.
- Lastly, use the right seasonings.Extra ingredients help mask the bitter flavor. You can season it with sugar or make the dish spicy with peppers. In this recipe, I season it with garlic for a pungent and garlicky taste. I add in some Thai chili pepper to make it spicy. Then, cooking it with scrambled eggs also reduces the bitterness.
Ingredient Alternatives And Suggestions
After learning more about bitter melon, let’s proceed to the ingredients and alternatives for the best version of this dish. In a nutshell, I give my tips and suggestions on which ingredients to pick and other optional seasonings to add. You can customize this dish as much as you want according to your preferred ingredients.
- Bitter melon: Keep in mind that the more ripe it is, the stronger its bitter flavors. A dark green bitter melon with a hint of yellow is a good choice. By picking the ones that are just beginning to ripen, you will make them less bitter. However, a fully green bitter melon is also a good option. Remember, avoid skin with blemishes or dark spots and a bitter melon that is firm to the touch. You can choose to decrease the amount of bitter melon and increase the scrambled eggs if you prefer. In this way, it is less bitter-tasting with the minimal bitter melon slices.
- Scrambled eggs: I use 4 eggs to make the scrambled eggs. Pour the beaten eggs into the hot pan and keep swirling until you have fluffy golden scrambled eggs. For more egg recipes, try my Scrambled Eggs & Prawn Rice | 滑蛋虾仁饭
- Salt: Use salt for the rubbing and stir-frying steps. You can use sea salt, kosher salt, and table salt, etc.
- Garlic: Make it garlicky, nutty, and pungent with minced or chopped garlic. If you don’t have garlic but want the garlicky flavors, you can substitute 1 clove of garlic with 1/8 tsp of garlic powder or 1/4 tsp of granulated garlic. This will give you the garlicky flavor without the chunks of garlic cloves. Adding ready-made Crispy Fried Garlic is also an excellent alternative to chopped fresh garlic.
- Thai chili pepper: This is also known as bird’s eye chili, commonly used in many Asian dishes. Take note this is different from Capsicum frutescens or siling labuyo, but it’s okay to use these as well as an alternative. You can use green or red chili peppers, crushed red pepper flakes, or cayenne peppers to mask the bitterness. If you don’t have whole chili peppers, you can replace 1 whole chili pepper with 1/4 tsp chili flakes. In case you don’t like spicy foods, you can omit this from the recipe.
- Bouillon powder: I used chicken bouillon powder for added spice to boost the flavor. You can also cook with vegetable powder, cubes, or Italian seasoning mix.Note that this ingredient is optional, depending on your preference.
- Optional seasonings: For extra umaminess, use fish sauce or soy sauce. Oyster sauce is also a common stir-fry ingredient that lends a touch of brininess and thickness. You can also experiment with the overall flavor with Shaoxing wine, white pepper, and sesame oil.
Ingredients And Kitchen Tools To Prepare
You simply need a non-stick pan or wok to stir-fry the bitter melon and cook the eggs. Prepare mixing bowls and a knife and chopping board to slice your ingredients. Here are the ingredients to get started and adjust according to taste:
- 200g of bitter gourd
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 4 beaten eggs
- 10g of garlic
- 5g of Thai chili pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tablespoon of peanut oil, allocating half for scrambling the eggs and the remaining half for stir-frying the bitter melon.
10 Steps To Make Bitter Melon Stir-Fried With Eggs
Do this recipe in 10 easy steps! Watch how I did it with my Instagram or TikTok tutorial video. Simply put, just prepare the bitter gourd, fry the eggs, and stir-fry everything together.
- Prepare the bitter melon. Remove the seeds and flesh and chop it into thin slices.
- Rub a teaspoon of salt onto the bitter melon slices. Let it sit for approximately 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the vegetables by chopping garlic and chili peppers.
- Beat 4 whole eggs for the scrambled eggs.
- Rinse off the salt with water and squeeze out the excess water.
- Heat your pan or wok with oil and pour the beaten eggs. Fry until fluffy and golden. Do not overcook or undercook the eggs. It should not be too firm or watery.
- Take out the scrambled eggs from the pan.
- Heat oil again in the pan and stir-fry chopped garlic and Thai chili pepper.
- Toss in the sliced bitter gourd, along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder.
- Stir-fry on high heat until everything is evenly cooked.
- Finally, mix in the fried eggs and stir-fry until well combined.
10-Minute Bitter Melon Stir-Fried With Eggs
Ingredients
- 200 g of bitter gourd
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 4 beaten eggs
- 10 g of garlic
- 5 g of Thai chili pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tablespoon of peanut oil allocating half for scrambling the eggs and the remaining half for stir-frying the bitter melon.
Instructions
- Prepare the bitter melon. Remove the seeds and flesh and chop it into thin slices.
- Rub a teaspoon of salt onto the bitter melon slices. Let it sit for approximately 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the vegetables by chopping garlic and chili peppers.
- Beat 4 whole eggs for the scrambled eggs.
- Rinse off the salt with water and squeeze out the excess water.
- Heat your pan or wok with oil and pour the beaten eggs. Fry until fluffy and golden. Do not overcook or undercook the eggs. It should not be too firm or watery.
- Take out the scrambled eggs from the pan.
- Heat oil again in the pan and stir-fry chopped garlic and Thai chili pepper.
- Toss in the sliced bitter gourd, along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder.
- Stir-fry on high heat until everything is evenly cooked.
- Finally, mix in the fried eggs and stir-fry until well combined.
