Beef with Bitter Melon (苦瓜牛肉, Fu2 Gwaa1 Ngau4 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 22 May 2014. Quantities and measurements for some ingredients were changed, as well as the addition of metric measurements.
 

Beef with bitter melon in a black bean sauce is another classic, easy to prepare Chinese dish. I make this dish when I want something quick to eat. Bitter melon, for those who are not familiar with this vegetable, tastes exactly as it’s named and could be considered an acquired taste. I happen to like bitter melon and you can easily moderate the bitterness of the melon to your taste. The beef needs some preparation time, so you’ll need a minimum of 1 hour for marinating, but also can be marinated overnight.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Beef flank or flap meat (牛肉, ngau4 juk6), cut into thin 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 lb.	500 g.	Bitter melon (苦瓜, fu2 gwaa1), halved lengthwise and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces (see notes)
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Salt (鹽, jim4)
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Salted black beans (豆豉, dau6 si6), washed and lightly crushed
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
½ Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
1 Tbs.	30 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the beef flank or flap meat by removing any excess fat, and cut into thin 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. Add the baking soda to the beef, allow to tenderize for 10 minutes, and then wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda can be omitted but results in the tender meat experienced in restaurant dishes.
2. Marinate the beef for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the beef overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Wash and cut the bitter melon in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to remove the bitter melon’s seeds and pith, which are not edible. Cut the bitter melon into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces. Salt the bitter melon pieces to remove the bitterness for 5-10 minutes (or more if you want to further reduce the bitterness). You might need to slightly wet the bitter melon pieces with your hands so that the salt can do its work. Finally, wash the salt from the bitter melon (see notes).
4. Wash and lightly crush the salted black beans in a small bowl. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into the bowl with the salted black beans. Mix the ingredients together.
5. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the black bean chili sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat and before adding oil. Add the beef pieces to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the beef in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Set the beef aside in a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the salted black beans, ginger, and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ingredients until fragrant before adding more oil and then the bitter melon. Stir fry the bitter melon to brown them. Add the contents of the bowl with the beef back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together.
3. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.

Notes

1. Salting and then washing the sliced bitter melon turns out to be the easiest and fastest way to remove any excess bitterness. If the bitter melon is slightly wet, the salt does a better job. I just use wet hands to mix the bitter melon slices and salt together, and that seems to do the trick. You only need 5-10 minutes to reduce the bitterness. The bitterness will diminish further the longer you leave the salt on the bitter melon.
2. Another method to reduce bitterness involves blanching the bitter melon before stir frying, but you need another pot and boiled water. The texture of the bitter melon will also be different if you use the blanching method.
3. You can also choose not to reduce the bitter melon’s bitterness at all, in which case just remove the seed and pith, cut into pieces, and cook. I like to pair bitter melon prepared in this manner with pork spareribs.