I've seen them in so many Asian cookbooks that I grew some this year. Rather, I tried, only one hill made it and it has the grand total of 1 (one) bitter melon on it. My Garden-Fu is weak. Anyway, it's an almost blacklight-glowing white, I'm waiting for it to ripe to at least a yellow-orange before I pick it because that's supposed to make it less bitter. Anyone familiar with this vegetable? I have some recipes from books and the Net, but it would be neat to hear from the folks here who have tried it.
Never heard of it, but then I am not a gourmet. Like my melons sweet and juicy. What sort of dishes do they use it in?
I'm not a gourmet either, but I like to try different foods. I'd seen bitter melon (aka bitter gourd) in Chinese recipes over the years and I got curious about them. There's probably a lot more than most of us want to know about them here: http://www.bittermelon.org/
Well, they didn't do well this year, and so far I've had a grand total of ... one. I planted the white Chinese strain, so I went ahead and picked it (no idea of when it would be ripe). Very interesting, closer to a mild cucumber than anything else I'd compare it to (but still not really much like it), the bitterness is more in the aftertaste. I ate a couple of raw slices from the blossom end and it was pretty good. The recommendation to parboil for 1-3 min to remove bitterness is probably a good idea. I ended up slicing it into 1/4" half-rounds (after splitting it to remove pith and seeds), and stir frying with some sliced Asian-style eggplant and summer squash. Pretty darned good, I think it would really shine in something peppery or maybe a miso soup. I'm going to try it again next year and pay more attention so hopefully it does better. Bugs didn't like it at all, that's been a plus this year.
I had the priviledge of living with a girl from the Phillipines for over a year, and she did the cooking. We had bittermelon quite often, and she cooked it with fresh sliced ginger. I didn't much care for it, but she said it was good for your blood. Now, years later, my husband is diabetic, and takes bittermelon pills he buys from the health food store to help keep his blood sugar from getting too high.
At the last place I lived before here, a new Asian (mostly Filipino) market opened, my wife and I were pretty limited on budget but I shopped there when I could afford a few "specialty" foods. One of the young ladies at the cash register looked at my purchases one day and asked me "have you lived in Southeast Asia?" I'm of typical Vietnam vet age and I guess I had the longhaired-gimpy-ex-vet look going for me (but I was lucky and didn't get drafted). I answered, "No ma'am, I just like good food." She kinda took me under wing after that and helped me shop, helping me find things and telling me simple ways to cook them. I guess it was obvious that I dressed mostly from Goodwill, because she was always helping me find bargains. Sometimes other shoppers would help too. One day two Filipino ladies a little older than me got into a friendly but pretty heated argument about which banana catsup I'd like best, and it was like two Southern aunts picking out a girlfriend for me. Wonderful people, I miss them. Thanks for helping me bring up a fond memory.
Yeah a lot different than the way you get treated in a Walmart superstore for sure. Thanks for sharing your memorys Gaston.
Well, looks like I was ready to give up on the bitter melons too quickly. Apparently they need warm ground to start, and a long season to mature. About the middle of August (I'm in southwest VA, zone 6) they started producing better, and in September they've been thriving. It's the only thing left in the garden, they even outlasted the pumpkins. It looks like we'll be moving back closer to the city and better medical care by spring, and if I end up in an apartment I think I'll try raising them indoors. They don't take up much space and the vines are thin and easy to train.
What you're growing there with the Bitter Melon, is one of the best researched & proven herbal medicinal plants. Its "Main Actions" are it kills bacteria, viruses, cancer cells(it is an immunomodulator), prevents tumors, treats diabetes (reduces blood sugar), reduces blood pressure, and lowers cholesterol. Its "Other Actions" are it reduces inflammation, fights free radicals, cleanses blood, detoxifies, expels worms, and enhances immunity. In Asia and Central America it long been used for preventing and treating malaria. Laboratory studies have confirmed that various species of bitter melon have anti-malarial activity. Also laboratory tests suggest that compounds in bitter melon might be effective for treating HIV infection and useful in offseting negative side effects of anti-HIV drugs. It is proven that it can lower blood sugar levels from people suffering from Type 2 Diabetes. Results of many scientific studies to determine the effect of drinking bitter melon extract on blood sugar level of Type 2 Diabetes have consistently shown that bitter melon lowers blood sugar level. The effect on blood sugar is due to momordicin, a substance that is also responsible for it's bitter taste. There have been many studies & test in Europe, Asia, and South/Central America, using rats, dogs & people. Of course, the big U.S. drug companies have done no studies, because how can you patent a melon? Peace, poor_old_dad
You did really well getting melons from your plant, Gaston. I've got two thinnish vines growing in a pot on my deck, that never produced anything. (But I've just been learning this year about mixing potting soil so things will actually GROW in it; they might have been planted in plain "potting soil" which might partly explain why). My hubby takes bitter melon pills for diabetes, but I didn't know it Good to know. Maybe I should start taking the pills! Oh well, there's always next year to try growing them again!
I bought some bitter melon & green tea my last trip to the Asian foodstore, I try to drink a cup of it a day. It's refreshing, at least to my tastes. Found some on the web, it's the same brand I have and I'm nearly out so I just bought some from them: http://herbalteacenter.stores.yahoo.net/bitmelgreent.html Matter of fact, I'm going to fix myself a cup right now!
The bitter melon vines seem to be flourishing lately. One came out in a blossom, even. Too bad temps are now falling towards Fall. Maybe next year I'll start the seeds very early with a heat mat. Mostly it's not worth all the trouble to grow something that's not comfortable with the conditions in your area, though, in My Humble Opinion. I'm still learning to work WITH my local weather conditions, succession planting, fall gardening, cool season and warm season crops. One thing I'm doing is finding SOME seed that's supposed to be DROUGHT TOLERANT. Speaking of bitter melon being good for diabetes, there's a bean called TEPARY BEAN that is also supposed to be good for diabetes, and it's drought tolerant: http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/cat.php?catID=42 http://www.seedsofchange.com/enewsletter/issue_56/tepary_beans.asp And taste:
