Sometime ago, as I surfed the net for info about something I now can’t remember, I somehow ended up answering a few easy questions on hubpages. Today I received notices from readers who thought my article was not only interesting but also helpful.

One article was my reply to the question: “What is the best way to prepare bitter gourd?” Never even thought any one besides the inquirer would bother to read the story.  A reader commented: “My mom also put thinly sliced fresh bitter melon with salted egg and fresh tomato. Yummy!” Another one said “Many, many thanks for the recipes. I prepared it for a diabetic friend but she did not like the bitter taste. I’ll try it your way. Luckily, I can find it all over NYC – we have so many great Indian, Korean, and Chinese markets.”

Here’s a copy of the article I wrote. Perhaps the recipes here are too simple, but then I love simply dishes. Turns out many others do too.

HOW TO PREPARE BITTER GOURD

I’ve always loved eating bitter melon (also known as bitter gourd, and ampalaya in my country) since I was young. It had not occurred to be then that most people hated its bitter taste.

Perhaps, my mom prepared this highly nutritious vegetable so carefully that her young children loved them. As the eldest of a brood of six, and the only girl for at least 12 years, I was automatically assigned to help out in the kitchen, where my second brother and I learned quite a few culinary tricks.

I know of a few bitter melon dishes which we would have as a vegetable or salad, which I will share with you at the end of this hub.

Momi and the maid maintained several live healthy vines of ampalaya decorating a portion of the wall in our back yard. Every now and then, we would pluck a firm fruit or two to bring to the kitchen for lunch or dinner. With practice, I learned to choose the raw (definitely unripe) green firm fruit which always turned out crispy both for the cooked dish and the fresh salad.

ALSO KNOWN AS . . .

I did some research on the various names of the bitter melon, which I have always known as ampalaya. Here are a few other names that may be more familiar to you:

• African cucumber
• balsam pear
• bitter apple
• bitter gourd
• bitter pear melon
• cindeamor
• carilla plant
• concombre African
• karela (Korea)
• ku gua (China)
• kuguzai (China)
• margose
• wild cucumber
• ampalaya (Philippines)

Bitter melon is a tropical fruit (not a vegetable) that resembles a bumpy cucumber in physical appearance, and is commonly sold in the markets in the Philippines and China.

Its botanical name is momordica charantia, and is a member of the Cucumber family. It is a relative of the Chinese Cucumber (Tricosanthes kirilowii).

AMPALAYA FOR HEALTH

When I started building my own family, and became concerned about health issues, I appreciated my mom for introducing us to this unusually welcome fruit, in our early years.

Turns out that the bitter melon is now proven to inhibit the progress of several harmful cells in the body, particularly:

• the progression of some forms of cancer*, and is proven beneficial in the tratment of leukemia
• inhibits several viruses** from wreaking further havoc on the body, and is particularly beneficial in cases of HIV, herpes simplex, herpes zoster, and polio

The bitter melon stimulates appetite, lowers elevated blood sugar (glucose) levels, and alleviates diabetes mellitus.

Further, the bitter melon may be beneficial for the treatment of psoriasis, a chronic skin disease.

Unripened bitter melon contains Polypeptide-P which is chemically similar to and can substitute for insulin. The fruit is also known to stimulate the release of endogenous insulin.

PREPARING AMPALAYA TO EAT

The raw unripe bitter melon is its most nutritious stage. This fruit is firm and dark green in color. When you notice any yellow portions, it’s probably ripening already. Also when you slice the fruit open, the pulp should be white and the seeds only yellowish white (not yellow or red). Please note that I am referring here to the Philippine variety, and am not sure of the color differences in other varieties.

To prepare bitter melon for eating, simply;

• wash the whole fruit in clean water, removing any dirt and grime. When picked straight from your own garden, a simple wash is all that’s necessary.
• cut off both ends
• cut the fruit in half lengthwise.
• spoon off the pulp and seeds
• slice the halves diagonally into pieces of 1/3 to 1/2 cm wide. For salads, you may want to slice the pieces more thinly, 1/5 of a centimeter if you can.

Some people prefer to add some salt at this point, and mash the pieces to “remove the bitter substances” and other nutritious substances along (sigh), then wash the pieces again in water.

I personally would rather keep all the substances and the crispness of the ampalaya intact. The trick to prevent the bitter taste from being release while cooking or preparing a salad of bitter melon is: PUT THE BITTER MELON IN AS THE LAST INGREDIENT, and MAKE SURE NOT TO STIR THE POT.