Stuffed Bitter Melon Soup

Bitter melon is one of those vegetables people either love or hate. Though I’ve never acquired a taste for it, my father enjoyed these bumpy squash-like melons so much that he grew them in his garden. He sliced the green melons crosswise into rounds, scooped out the seeds, and stuffed the rings with a pork and shrimp filling. To make the filling, he would use two cleavers, one in each hand, and tap dance over the pork and shrimp to turn them into a fine mince. He dropped the stuffed melon r