Bitter gourd, also known as bitter melon, is a familiar dish of many regions. It is both a food and a precious medicine, which can be made as a cooling tea, eaten raw, and used to prepare many delicious dishes. The name speaks for the taste.
Bitter gourd… wild Bitter gourd has a bitter taste, that’s why many people can’t eat it, but there are also many people who get used to it… addicted to that bitter taste. Since ancient times, the use of this fruit has been recognized by Eastern medicine, which is the effect of tonic blood, does not contain toxins, promotes the detoxification mechanism of the liver, and clears heat for the body. Modern medicine also has many studies showing the effects of bitter melon on human health. Specifically, the vitamin C content in bitter melon is nearly 20 times higher than that of cucumbers; Eating bitter melon will help increase glucose metabolism, reduce blood cholesterol, strengthen the immune system, protect the heart … For those who are used to eating bitter melon, there is no need to undergo preliminary processing to reduce bitterness when processing. For those who are not used to eating, before processing, it is necessary to peel off the intestines of the melon, blanch it in boiling water, and wash it many times with cold water. By doing so, the bitterness of the dish will be much less and it will be easier to enjoy. 
About a dozen years ago, the source is unknown, first from a few sidewalk beer shops, a mannequin dish appeared, at that time it was called by the curiously-sounding name “crocodile crossing the river”. But actually, it’s a type that can be called salad or mannequin is not wrong. Bitter melon is thinly sliced, soaked in ice to make it crispy, the heart of the plate is left with a lot of ice, covered with a food wrapper, and on top is a display of bitter melon and shrimp. Bitter gourd soaked in ice cold water has a crunchy texture, and when eaten with salted water, it is delicious and especially not bitter. In addition, it is also possible to make a normal loofah mannequin. Bitter gourd salad includes bitter gourd, bell pepper, onion, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and vinegar… All ingredients are preliminarily processed, sliced thinly and mixed together. The dish is especially suitable for summer people who want to lose weight. In folklore, bitter melon is always used by Vietnamese people to make food in their daily meals, in addition, bitter melon is also used as a tea to help clear heat. And according to research by Japanese nutritionists, bitter melon is a longevity food with nutritional value “full of flavor”. With simple processing methods, it will help us to have a simple dish and drink. The most common in the dishes from bitter melon is bitter melon stuffed with meat. This dish, in addition to bitter melon, also has minced lean meat, wood ear, shiitake mushrooms (you can have it but you can’t), pepper, dried onions… If you leave the whole fruit, cut it along the body, remove all the intestines of the melon and put it into a pile. meat that has mixed the above ingredients inside, otherwise it can be cut into small pieces, putting the meat inside the intestines. Bitter melon stuffed with meat can be cooked into soup, when eaten, sprinkled with spring onions or can also be eaten with tomato sauce to eat with rice. Nature’s gift Another popular dish from bitter melon is stir-fried bitter melon with eggs. Bitter gourd is gutted, finely chopped, sautéed purple onion, chopped with lard, fragrant onion, put the melon on a large fire, then break the egg and stir well. The high heat makes the cooked eggs entwine with the bitter gourd pieces. When scrambled eggs with bitter melon, the bitterness in the melon is minimized. It is also a stir-fried dish from melon that can be sautéed with beef, with pork kidney or fried with mushrooms for a vegetarian dish. 
Hanoi market now has almost all stalls selling strabismus. Fish bought with onions, dill, a little chopped chili, flexible fish can be stuffed into each chunk of gutted melon and then cooked in soup. You can also chop melon like stir-fry and then cook soup with scallions, sprinkle with scallions when eating. This is a refreshing and nutritious dish. Also with the soup, you can cook bitter melon fish soup. Ingredients include 2-3 bitter melons, 1 fish, green onions, coriander, spices, sugar, salt, pepper. Clean the fish, drain it, blanch it in boiling water, then take it out and let it dry. Bitter melon washed, halved, gutted, cut into pieces about 2-3cm as you like. Boil about 2-3 bowls of water and then put the fish in the stew. Tasting spices to taste. When the fish is soft, add the bitter melon and cook on medium heat until the bitter melon is soft. Season with spices, pepper to taste, then remove the scallions, chopped coriander, you can turn off the stove and scoop out the bowl. 
Similarly can cook bitter melon with shrimp. Raw materials include melon, cleaned and peeled shrimp, raw spring rolls with scallions, coriander, salted fish sauce just enough. Shrimps are mixed with raw spring rolls, pepper, salt and dried onions. Then leave for 10 minutes for the shrimp to infuse the spices. Boil a sufficient amount of water, when the water is boiling, put each spoon of marinated shrimp in the pot and continue to boil on high heat to bring the water to a boil. Cook until the shrimp is cooked to the surface of the water, then drop in the bitter melon. Continue cooking until the bitter melon is cooked, then season to taste and then turn off the heat. Bitter melon is also suitable for making braised dishes. 
Can store copper fish, bitter melon with soy sauce. Ingredients include carp or carp, carp. Big fish are cut into pieces, cleaned, put under the same layer of fatty meat or pork skin, the cleaned bitter melon layer is divided vertically into 4 layers, then the second layer, then the fish, add a layer of bitter melon and finally pork belly. , add cork sauce, a little water, salted fish sauce, and then simmer for about 1-2 hours. Braised carp with bones is the best. However, when it’s time to eat, the fish always runs out after the bitter gourd. If you don’t stock with fish, you can braise bitter melon with soy sauce, then add a few drops of sesame oil, it will be very fragrant, eat with hot rice, salty vegetarian can use. Bitter gourd can also be sliced thin, dried and then boiled in boiling water to drink like tea. Bitter gourd tea has a detoxifying effect, very good for health.
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