Beef
and black bean sauce are the usual accompaniments to bitter melon (here’s my
recipe: Beef
with Bitter Melon (苦瓜牛肉, Fu2 Gwaa1
Ngau4 Juk6). This recipe uses chicken and fried tofu
together with black bean chili sauce to spice up the bitter melon. Eating
bitter melon is an acquired taste, but it is one that I’ve had ever since
childhood. The bitterness can be reduced by salting the bitter melon and then
washing the salt off before cooking. If the salt is left on long enough, the
bitterness can be removed, but then what’s the point of eating bitter melon if
there’s no bitterness?
Enjoy!