Quick and easy Fried Eggs with Bitter Gourd and tips on choosing and making the bitter gourd less bitter and more bittersweet.
I have been wanting to make this dish but never got round to it until now. I recently found a small bitter gourd, perfect for this Fried Eggs with Bitter Gourd dish. There is a taboo about eating bitter gourd during the 15 days of the Chinese New Year celebrations and so I waited until after Chap Goh Mei (the 15th day) to cook this dish. Not that I am superstitious but many visitors to the blog may not even want to try this dish. Now, we are all in the clear and you can cook this dish without reservations. 😁
A Typical Chinese Meal
A typical Chinese meal usually consists of 2 or 3 main and side dishes place in the center shared by family members eaten with individual bowls of steamed rice. Sometimes, each family member also gets a bowl of clear soup to moisten the palate. When I was growing up, we had soup almost everyday because Dad and I love soups. In fact, I was considered the “Soup Queen” of the family 😂 but I digress…
Anyway, back to the shared main and side dishes. The main dish is often a meaty dish and the second or side dish is always a stir fry vegetable dish. If there is a third dish, it is often a quick and easy dish like this Green Beans Omelet or something similar. Two days ago, I need a third dish and so I made this Fried Eggs with Bitter Gourd. I thought it was going to be just Paul and me eating this but was pleasantly and totally surprised that my two sons joined in with no qualms at all. In the past when they were younger, they stayed away from bitter gourd. Perhaps they finally realized what they were missing all these years. Bitter gourd need not be bitter to the Nth degree as there is a way to make it less bitter and deliciously bittersweet.
How to Choose and Prepare Bitter Gourd
You can find two varieties of bitter gourd (a.k.a. bitter melon) at the grocery stores depending on where you shop. If you go to the Indian grocery store, you will see the deep green variety with thin ridges. These bitter gourds are distinctly more bitter. The Chinese grocery stores carry the lighter green variety with wider ridges. These are much less bitter and my preferred kind of bitter gourd. Always choose the melon with the palest shade of green with the widest ridges. These tend to be less bitter and more bittersweet.
To prepare bitter gourd, cut the melon lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Then, cut each half of the melon at a diagonal into thin slices. Place the melon slices in a bowl and sprinkle some salt over it. Mix well and allow it to sit for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, give it a good rinse to wash off the bitter juices and drain well. The bitter gourd is now ready for cooking.
Similar Products Used in Making This Fried Eggs with Bitter Gourd
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Asian Kitchen Carbon Steel Wok Stir Fry Pan, 12-inch
Classic Series Carbon Steel Wok, 14-inch
Stainless Steel Professional Wok Turner Spatula
Fried Eggs with Bitter Gourd
Ingredients
- 1 small bittergourd (6 oz/170g)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
Instructions
- Cut bitter gourd in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Cut one half of the bitter gourd at a diagonal into thin slices. Do the same for the other half.
- Place the bitter gourd slices in a bowl. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt over the top. Mix well and allow it to sit for 20 minutes. Rinse and squeeze out as much water as possible. Pat dry with paper towel.
- Heat vegetable oil in a wok or medium fry pan. Add prepared bitter gourd and stir fry for 3 minutes until lightly brown.
- Pour in the beaten egg. Sprinkle salt and ground pepper over the eggs and bitter gourd.
- Once eggs start to set, stir to break it up. Continue stirring and flipping until eggs are fully cooked, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.
Nutrition
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