3rd fia fia cooking--Bitter Gourd Meat Ball (2012/01/27)

         *Bitter Gourd Meat Ball  

                                                                                   Place:Fia Fia Farm

           RECIPE

Ingredients	Condiment
2 bitter gourds	3 teaspoons of salt
100g of pork	3 tablespoons of soy sauce
50g of fish	4 teaspoons of black pepper
3 dried mushrooms	1 teaspoon of sesame oil
3 spring onions	2 teaspoons of sugar
3 cloves of garlic	2 teaspoons of oyster oil
3 pieces of ginger	4 teaspoons of cornflour

          

 

 

 

                                                                         photo by Tracy

                                                                           photo by Tracy

          DIRECTION:

1.     Chop the pork and boned fish finely until becoming sticky.

2.     Add the crushed garlic, soy sauce, black pepper, salt, sugar, and the sesame oil to marinate the meat filling for 15-30 minutes.

3.     Soak the dried mushrooms in the water for 15 minutes.

4.     Wash the bitter gourd and cut head and tail.

5.     Cut each into a section about 1-2cm thick and remove the seeds with the spoon.

* TIP: When you remove the seeds, try to scrape clean the white part inside which is the majority source of bitter flavor!

6.     Put the bitter gourd into the boiled water for 2 minutes. (to reduce the bitter flavor)

7.     Quickly fry the diced mushrooms and chop the spring onions.

8.     Mix the diced mushroom, spring onions and meat filling.

9.     Stuff the bitter gourd rings with the meat filling and place on a plate.   

10.  Steam the stuffed bitter gourd rings over medium flame for 20-30 minutes.

11.  Make the sauce:

Add some oyster oil, soy sauce, cornflour in the water that the mushrooms soak in.

After the sauce boiling, pour it on the bitter gourds before serving.

·      Bitter Gourd Soup

RECIPE

1 bitter gourd	3 teaspoons of salt
50g of chicken bone	3 teaspoons of sugar
Half of pineapple

                                                                               photo by Tracy
    DIRECTION:

1.    Boiled the ribs for 2 minutes.

2.    Stew the ribs soup for 1-2 hours.

3.     Wash the bitter gourd and cut head and tail.

4.     Cut bitter gourd in half and remove the seeds with the spoon.

* TIP: When you remove the seeds, try to scrape clean the white part inside which is the majority source of bitter flavor!

5.     Put the diced bitter gourd into the boiled water for 1 minutes. (to reduce the bitter flavor)

6.    After 1 hour, put the diced bitter gourds and diced pineapple into the pot and stew 1 more hour. (Add the seasoning at the same time.)

·      Bitter Gourd Salad

RECIPE

Ingredients	Condiment
1 bitter gourd	4 teaspoons of salt
1 pineapple can	3 teaspoons of sugar
5 cloves of garlic

                                                                           photo by TracyDIRECTION:

1.    Wash the bitter gourd and cut head and tail.

2.     Cut bitter gourd in half and remove the seeds with the spoon.

       TIP: When you remove the seeds, try to scrape clean the white part    

       inside which is the majority source of bitter flavor!

3.   slice the bitter gourd thinly, cut the pineapple into small pieces, and chop the garlic.

4.   Put all ingredients into a bowl and add salt, sugar to marinate for 6 hours.

·      Braised Bitter Gourd  

RECIPE

Ingredients	Condiment
1 bitter gourd	3 teaspoons of salt
3 cloves of garlic	3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of salt black beans	4 teaspoons of sugar
Some dried fish	2 teaspoons of oyster oil

                                                                                          photo by Tracy
DIRECTION:

1.    Wash the bitter gourd and cut head and tail.

2.     Cut bitter gourd in half and remove the seeds with the spoon.

       TIP: When you remove the seeds, try to scrape clean the white part    

       inside which is the majority source of bitter flavor!

3.     Cut the bitter gourd into large block.

4.    Chop the garlic finely.

5.    Quickly fry the garlic, dried fish, salt black beans, and put the blocked bitter gourds into the pan.

6.    Add the salt, soy sauce, sugar, oyster oil and water to stew for 30-40 minutes.

Benefits of Bitter Gourd

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/bitter-gourd.html

§  Very low in calories provides only 17 cal per 100g. The pods are rich in phytonutrients like dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants. 

§  Bitter melon notably contains phyto-nutrient, polypeptide-P; a plant insulin known to lower blood sugar levels. The bitter melon is thought to be responsible for reduction of blood sugar levels in the treatment of type-2 diabetes.

§  Fresh pods are an excellent source of folates.

§  Fresh bitter melon is an excellent source of vitamin-C (100g of raw pod provides about 140% of RDI).

§  The vegetable also an excellent source of health benefiting flavonoids such as b-carotene, a- carotene, lutein, zeaxanthins. It also contains good amount of vitamin A. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging, cancers and various disease processes.

§  Bitter melon stimulates digestion and peristalsis which can be helpful in relieving indigestion and constipation problems.

§  The vegetable is also good source of Niacin (vitamin B-3), Pantothenic acid (vit.B-5), Pyridoxine (vit.B-6) and minerals such as iron, zinc, potassium, manganese and magnesium.

§  Early laboratory tests suggest that compounds in bitter melon might be effective for treating HIV infection.