No Bitterness Amplaya/Bitter Melon Dish
Good evening Steemians
.... and a very beautiful early morning on the other side of the world.
It's already dark on this side of the planet and it'd been a long day for me today. Had so much going on. I hardly had enough time to steem during the half day. Right now, I am done preparing for dinner and just waiting for my cousin and siblings to be home, inorder to take our meal together.
A little trivia
Not everyone of us are fond of eating this vegetable, because of its bitter taste. Yes, you got it right! I am talking about "bitter melon". It is also known as bitter squash, bitter gourd or balsam-pear. In the Filipino language, it is popularly known as "ampalaya". Its scientific name is Momordica charantia.
Back in highschool, I remembered going to my classmate's house to spend lunch there. It was my very first time to taste a "bitterless" ampalaya dish. I was amazed, at the same time curious. At the back of my mind I asked, "where did they buy an amplaya like this?". Funny how I thought of that way. I even told my mother that my mother's classmate cooked for us an ampalaya dish which was not the same as hers because it was not at all bitter.
Well, I was never familiar about "food hacks" in my younger years. I didn't know how to cook that time yet, anyway. However, my mom was not bothered about it, and she just shrugged it off. So every time she cooked ampalaya for our meals, it was the similar signature bitter ampalaya meal. Lol!
Fast forward to when I became interested in cooking, I discovered that the one "super" ingredient that took away the ampalaya's bitter taste is found in our kitchen all along. It's none other than the ever loyal condiment--- SALT.
How to do it?
Before cooking the ampalaya, pour on salt to it, you can put 2 to 3 tablespoon approximately. It totally depends on you. You can do the estimation. Then let it sit for about 30 minutes to an hour. As soon as your desired time passed, rinse the ampalaya with water. Get ready with your pan and ingredients, then cook the ampalaya whichever way you want.
Cooking Time
For this dish we need minced onions and garlic, cooking oil, egg, salt, and pepper or umami seasoning, and of course the amplaya.
First up, heat the cooking oil in pan. Saute the onions and garlic. Next, put the ampalaya. Stir fry until cooked. On a bowl, beat an egg. Add the beaten egg into the pan. Stur and mix well together. Then, add salt and seasoning to taste. Get ready to serve the "No Bitterness Ampalaya dish".
HEALTH CORNER
Did you know....
The bitter melon is known for doing a lot of wonders to our body. Here are the top 10 health benefits of ampalaya or bitter gourd: (source)
1.) Anti-diabetic
2.) Anti-cancer
3.) Antioxidant
4.) Immunobooster
5.) Appetite suppressor - A substance present in this vegetable called lectin helps you achieve a non hungry effect, and not because of its bitterness.
6.) Good for the heart
7.) Skin improvement
8.) Good bye bad hair day
9.) Effective in weight loss
10.) Ease your digestion
I love bitter melon!
The way I prepare it after sprinkling with salt, I rub them, then let stand before rinsing 😊
wow! thanks for that tip. I will try your style :)
My pleasure @junvebbei !