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Thai Bitter Melon, Bitter is Better (ผัดมะระใส่ไก่)

May 25, 2016 By Mod Shed 2 Comments

Stir Fried Thai Bitter Melon (ผัดมะระใส่ไก่)

Stir Fried Bitter Melon with Brown Rice

Stir Fried Bitter Melon with Brown Rice

Bitter Melon is food typical of Thailand which originated in India and made it’s way east and is now grown throughout the tropics, mainly Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.   Bitter melon, or momordica charantia is from the gourd family and grows on vines resembling cucumbers.

Bitter Melon on the vine

Bitter Melon on the vine

They have a very bitter flavor and as my wife reminded me they are often an acquired taste.   The way she put it she has a, crocodile mouth, and other people won’t like this recipe.    My argument back was that if she likes it others might like too and that recent articles I’ve been reading have been saying  the real reason vegetables may be good for us is that their bitterness is a defense mechanism which stresses our systems the way bodybuilding does, making us stronger as a result.

Bitter Melon

Bitter Melon

The argument is that for other species the bitterness of vegetables may be too hard on them and protect the vegetables so they can spread their seeds.  If that is the case then it is possible that, as humans, our systems may be able to tolerate it and may even be stimulated by the defense of the vegetables.

Sliced Bitter Melon-min

Some supporting evidence is that bitter foods tend to stabilize our blood sugar, facilitate better calorie portioning and stimulate the liver to produce bile and help the body process fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E, K which can build up in our systems if not digested appropriately.

Thai Bitter Melon Serving Suggestion-min

 


Thai Bitter Melon, Bitter is Better (ผัดมะระใส่ไก่)
 
Save Print
Prep time
1 hour 10 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
1 hour 20 mins
 
Only 5 ingredients for this recipe! Healthy and tasty green dish. You'll be amazing with what Bitter melon has to offer for the excellent taste and nutrition.
Author: HealthyThaiRecipes
Recipe type: Main Course, Stir Fried
Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • • 2 Bitter melons.
  • • 1 Big piece of chicken breast, sliced.
  • • 1 TBSP Chopped garlic.
  • • 2 TBSP Olive oil.
  • • 1 TBSP Fish sauce.
  • • Lots of salt, about 2 Tbsp. (to wash the Bitter melon)
Instructions
  1. Cut bitter melon halves, both horizontally and vertically, then thin slice them. A tip to make bitter melons less bitter is slice them as thin as you can; the thicker they are is the bitter they could be. Then wash the bitter melon with water and rinse the water off. Then add water and salt (about 2 TBSP) into a bowl of sliced Bitter melons, squeeze the Bitter melons and rinse off. Last, add more water and salt but this time you'll leave the Bitter melons sit in the bowl of water and salt about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  2. After soaking the bitter melons, rinse the salt water and again add cold water (only) to the bitter melons bowl. Squeeze water out from the bitter melon and put it on a plate.
  3. Heat Olive oil in a wok, wait until the oil is hot, then add chopped garlic in the wok, stir fry until the garlic is golden.
  4. Add sliced chicken breast, stir fry until the chicken is cooked.
  5. Add sliced Bitter melons in the wok, follow with a fish sauce, stir fry until the Bitter melons is cooked which is about 5-8 minutes.
  6. Serve the stir fired bitter melon with brown rice, some other healthy choice or as a side itself.
Notes
The nutrition for each serving doesn't include the nutrition of brown rice.
If you're counting the calories intake, please look for the brown rice nutrition
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 Calories: 178 Fat: 9.8g Saturated fat: 1.4g Unsaturated fat: 8.0g Trans fat: 0.1g Carbohydrates: 4.1g Sugar: 0.7g Sodium: 483.6mg Fiber: 1.9g Protein: 9.8g Cholesterol: 38.7g
3.5.3208

 

Filed Under: Recipes, Stir Fried Tagged With: Bitter, Bitter Melon, Budget, Melon, Thai Bitter Melon

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dennis says

    January 6, 2019 at 11:34 AM

    Are the seeds discarded?

    Reply
    • Adam says

      January 9, 2019 at 5:46 PM

      Yes

      Reply

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Authors; About Mod

Mod took cooking classes before moving to the United States. She started making her recipes healthier after we got married and I started suggesting substituting healthier ingredients. Many of our recipes are complete originals we invented, and many are traditional recipes that are just naturally healthy. Read More…

Mod Shed: View My Blog Posts

Authors: About Adam

Hi! I'm Adam. :) I learned web design as an intern for Worldcom back in the 90s. When I met Mod I knew whoever I married would need to be able to live well with my, "health nut" tendancies. I built this blog as a way for us to document our recipe rehab. Read More…

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