Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia)

This unusual vegetable is also an acquired taste that has as many detractors as it has fans. While I found it quite abundant throughout my travels in China, especially during the warm summer months, I discovered that even the Chinese must learn to love it. Bitter melon has a bumpy dark to pale green skin, and has a slightly bitter quinine flavour that has a cooling effect in one’s mouth. I ate it stir-fried with chillies, and braised with fermented bean curd. In some parts of China it is often dried and used as medicine. The greener the melon, the more bitter its taste, and many cooks look for the milder yellow-green varieties. To use, cut in half, seed, and discard interior membrane. Then, to lessen its bitter taste, either blanch or salt it, according to instructions in your recipe. Store in the bottom of your refrigerator in a loose plastic or paper bag. It should keep there for three to five days, depending on the condition in which it was bought.