Tips

Bitter no more: Add a drop of this and the bitterness of bitter gourd is gone, leaving a deliciously crispy taste.

Surprisingly, there is a simple and familiar ingredient that can help neutralize the bitterness of bitter gourd!

9 January, 2024

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Bitter gourd (also known as bitter melon), belonging to the gourd family, is a type of fruit that has the highest vitamin C content among vegetables, cucumbers, and pumpkins. According to Eastern medicine, bitter gourd has a bitter taste and a cold nature. It is known for its cooling, detoxifying, and eye-brightening properties, making it suitable for hot conditions, thirst, eye health, heart cooling, and bowel moistening. Bitter gourd is also valued for its many other health benefits.

In the summer, bitter gourd is widely available. Due to its cooling and detoxifying effects, people often buy bitter gourd to cook. Bitter gourd can be eaten raw with shrimp paste, used in salads, stir-fried, stewed, used in soups, or stuffed with steamed meat… Every dish with bitter gourd is delicious and enticing.

However, not everyone can eat this fruit because of its bitter taste. Therefore, chefs have suggested a highly effective way to eliminate the bitterness, using a familiar ingredient that not everyone knows about – honey.

Here is the specific method:

– 2 bitter gourds

– Salt, honey, white vinegar

Instructions:

Cut the bitter gourds in half, remove the seeds, and be sure to scrape off the remaining white part that still clings to the inside of the bitter gourd. This white part is the main cause of its bitterness.

After washing the bitter gourd, cut it into thin slices.

Put the bitter gourd in a bowl of clean water. Then add a few drops of honey. Honey helps you eliminate the bitterness of the bitter gourd.

Next, boil a pot of water, add a pinch of salt, a little bit of white vinegar, and a little bit of honey. Quickly blanch the bitter gourd for 30 seconds. The purpose of this step is to effectively remove the bitterness of the bitter gourd and at the same time make the bitter gourd greener after blanching. Salt also prevents the loss of vitamins in the bitter gourd.

After blanching, immediately transfer the bitter gourd to a basin of cold water to cool it down. Immersing or rinsing the bitter gourd with cold water after blanching is to cool it down and prevent it from turning yellow because it is still hot from blanching.