August 28, 2020

Sautéed Vegan Bitter Melon Recipe

If you’ve found yourself in possession of a few of these strange, lumpy green vegetables, but are still in need of a good, vegan bitter melon recipe, you can look no further. We’ve got you covered! This is a fairly simple recipe that works to tame and compliment the bitterness of bitter melon with sweet, caramelized onions, a little pop of chili, and a whole lot of delicious bitter melon flavor. The perfect side dish, it’s as good over rice as it is on top of toast. You’ll be loving bitter melon in no time!

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What is a Bitter Melon?

Bitter melon is a fruit, but it falls in the same category as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers in the sense that when cooking we treat it like a vegetable. Visually, bitter melon looks a good deal like a small cucumber except instead of having smooth skin it has a bumpy and sometimes wart-covered skin. They are native to India and also quite popular in China. What we usually eat is actually the unripe bitter melon, and as it ripens it will turn from green to orange and split, spilling a bright red center. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, the bitter melon is bitter.

Actually, I avoided eating bitter melon for a few years after hearing people describe bitter melon as being so terribly bitter that they could barely eat it. But when I found them being grown and sold at a lovely little side of the road farm stand I decided to give it a try. And quite frankly, they’re freaking delicious! Yes, they’re bitter. Honestly, I didn’t even think they were that bitter, but my boyfriend assured me that they’re pretty darn bitter. I don’t know, I drink my coffee black and am a huge fan of IPA’s with a high IBU, so it’s certainly possible I’m not as sensitive to bitterness as most people. But what I actually noticed more about the bitter melon was not actually the bitterness but instead the other flavors. It reminded me a lot of a cooked poblano pepper, but somehow more savory and delicious. Bitter melon is probably not for everyone, but if you can hang with a little bitterness, you’ll get hooked on bitter melon.

Why Eat Bitter Melon?

Bitter melon is the most bitter fruit or vegetable commonly eaten by humans. There have been several studies showing it lowers blood sugar, and light be helpful in treating or preventing diabetes. Bitter melon has plenty of other medicinal claims, although the data verifying them is yet to be collected. It also contains a whole lot of vitamin C, some A, E, and several B vitamins, as well as minerals like potassium, calcium, and iron. Not to mention the antioxidants! Bitter melon on its own is low in fats and calories, and high in fiber (although to be clear, we added plenty of fat in this recipe). But I think there’s another reason great to enjoy bitter melon, aside from any effects on health, and that is for the enjoyment of it. There’s something lovely about expanding your pallet to enjoy flavors you might not have naturally gravitated towards, and learning to appreciate the bitterness of bitter melon is in itself a benefit. Explore all the flavors, and learn to love as many of them as possible!

Looking for recipes with a bit of bitter? Try one of these!

Making this Sautéed Vegan Bitter Melon Recipe

To start cooking your bitter melon, you have to get it prepped. We peeled ours, sliced them, and then removed the seeds (you don’t have to peel or remove the seeds, but I found it to have a nicer texture when you did). You’re left with some cute little O’s, and now it’s time to sauté. For this dish we were generous with the oil, because it helps to tame the bitterness of the bitter melon and also it captures the flavors of the dish, which makes it perfect to drizzle over rice or dip bread into. If you want, you can cut back on the oil a little. After that, it’s all about the saute. We cook our bitter melon longer than we would most vegetables, because the long and slow cooking helps to tame the bitterness, while at the same time brings out the sweetness of the onions. After cooking for around 30 minutes, the bitter melon is soft and smooth in texture, with a flavor almost like a poblano pepper but with that super interesting bitter flavor, that has me coming back for bite after bite.

Sautéed Vegan Bitter Melon Recipe

Ingredients

2 bitter melons
2-4 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 small purple onions
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch of chili powder
2 cloves garlic

Instructions

Prepare the bitter melons by peeling off the bumping exterior skin. Once peeled, slice into pieces about ¼-½ inch thick, then use your fingers to poke out the seeds in the middle, leaving you with O-shaped pieces. Dice your onions, and mince your garlic.
Heat a medium-sized skillet with the oil (I use the whole quarter cup, and the result is delicious although certainly oily. Use less if desired). Add the bitter melon and sauté for 2-3 minutes before adding the onion, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover with a lid, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes until the onions are slightly caramelized. Add the garlic and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Once done, serve warm as a side dish or over rice.

https://veryveganval.com/2020/08/28/sauteed-vegan-bitter-melon-recipe/

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