• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Devour.Asia

Devour.Asia

Connie Veneracion explores Asian food, history and culture

  • Tea
  • Kitchen Tales
    • Pantry Staples
    • Kitchen Tools
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Food Trivia
  • Food Tales
  • Travel Tales
  • Search

  • All Recipes
    • Chinese
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Taiwanese
    • Thai
    • Vietnamese
    • Asian Fusion
    • Instant Noodles (Ramen)
  • Tea
  • Kitchen Tales
    • Pantry Staples
    • Kitchen Tools
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Food Trivia
  • Food Tales
  • Travel Tales
  • Pop Tales
  • About
  • Privacy
  • All Recipes
  • Chinese
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Taiwanese
  • Thai
  • Vietnamese
  • Fusion
You are here: Home / Kitchen Tales / Cooking Techniques / How to Get Rid of the Bitterness of Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd / Melon)

How to Get Rid of the Bitterness of Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd / Melon)

Two things work to get rid of the bitterness of ampalaya. Not totally but enough to make eating it less traumatic for people who aren’t fans of its bitterness.

Bitter gourd / melon (ampalaya) growing in vine

What is bitter gourd?

Bitter gourd is consumed in Asia, the Caribbean and Africa. The scientific name is Momordica charantia. It is a vine that grows in the tropics and subtropics.

Which parts of the plant are edible?

What is cooked as a vegetable is actually the fruit of the plant. It looks similar to the cucumber but the skin is bumpy. The length, girth and color depend on the variety.

The leaves and tendrils, less bitter than the fruit flesh, are also cooked as vegetable.

Scraping off the seeds and pith of bitter gourd

In the Philippines, it is common practice to scrape off and discard the seeds and pith. According to Wendy Kiang-Spray, author of The Chinese Kitchen Garden, as the bitter bourd matures and the white spongy pith inside turns a goopy red, it also becomes sweet and totally edible so long as you spit out the seeds. She describes the flavor as similar to roasted bell pepper.

How to remove the bitterness

Note that this process does not get rid of the bitterness a hundred per cent. It does, however, remove a substantial amount of bitterness to make the bitter gourd more palatable. If you cook it with other ingredients, the bitterness will be even less pronouced.

Sprinkling bitter melon with salt

Split the bitter gourd vertically into halves, scrape off the seeds and pith in the middle, then slice the flesh. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt.

Sliced bitter melon

Massage the salt into the flesh of the bitter gourd then leave for 30 minutes. The salt will draw out the water from the bitter gourd.

Rinse the bitter gourd slices well and drain. With your hands, squeeze out as much of the remaining water as you can without breaking the slices into pieces. Alternatively, place the drained bitter gourd slices in a cheese cloth and wring out the water.

Blanching sliced ampalaya

At this point, you can cook the bitter gourd. However, if you want remove most of the salt that the bitter gourd has absorbed (and more of any remaining bitterness), blanch the slices for a few minutes. How long depends on how much crunch you want left in the vegetable.

Recipes with bitter gourd

  • Ampalaya (bitter melon) con lechon kawali
  • Sauteed ampalaya (bitter gourd / melon) with dried shrimps and eggs

Updated from a post originally published in April 2, 2009

Inside my Asian kitchen

Homemade mayonnaise

Groceries Running Out of Mayonnaise? Make Your Own!

Carrots with leafy tops

Root Vegetables Grow Underground

Ganache

How To Make Ganache

Asian food tales

Uni (sea urchin) sachimi

An Introduction to Edible Sea Urchins and Uni Sashimi

Appetizer and sake at Chibo, Jo-Terrace, Osaka Castle

Osaka Eats: Steak, Matcha Ice Cream, Sake and the Food Court at Muji

Shio ramen with grilled pork from Mentenshyou in Osaka

A Guide To Ramen Broth: Shio, Shoyu, Miso and Tonkotsu

Explore Asia

Osaka Castle in the fall

Osaka Castle, the Golden Pavilion and the Splendid Autumn Foliage

Fushimi Inari Torii Gates

Fushimi Inari: Torii Gates, Chiyo Wannabes, Street Food Galore and a Secret Garden

5 days and 4 nights in Taiwan

Taiwan is Hot!

March 12, 2020 : Cooking Techniques Kitchen Tales, Fruits & Vegetables
Previous Post: « Century egg Century Eggs are Not 1,000 Years Old and They are Not Soaked in Horse Urine
Next Post: Sorry, Brother, but “Kingdom” Doesn’t Have a Better Storyline Than “Game of Thrones” Scene from "Kingdom" | Image credit: Netflix »

Sidebar

Asian Pop Tales

Cutting scallions with scissors in "Always Be My Maybe" | Image credit: Netflix

Kimchi-jjigae and Asian-Americans in “Always Be My Maybe”

Scene from “Lust, Caution” | Image credit: Focus Features

Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution”

Scene from "Kingdom" | Image credit: Netflix

Sorry, Brother, but “Kingdom” Doesn’t Have a Better Storyline Than “Game of Thrones”

  • About
  • Privacy & Usage
  • Full Archive

Everything © Connie Veneracion. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.