Bitter Melon Stir-fry with Black Bean Sauce by: Sarah 0 Comments Jump to Recipe Posted:9/12/2022Updated:9/12/2022 This bitter melon stir-fry is flavorful and balanced with salty fermented black beans, meaty mushrooms, and sweet zucchini.  Unlike other well-known Chinese bitter melon dishes, like beef with bitter melon, bitter melon with eggs, and bitter melon pork bone soup, this recipe is my own creation and also happens to be vegan!  What Is Bitter Melon? Also known as bitter gourd, bitter melon is a green fruit related to other vining cucurbits like cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, and loofah.It is used across various Asian cuisines, including Southeast Asian and South Asian recipes.  There are several different varieties.We’ve seen spikier looking specimens in Indian groceries, while Chinese bitter melon varieties are lighter green and smoother.  The fruit is indeed bitter—even more than a bitter leafy green like broccoli rabe.

It also has a firm, crunchy texture.You can cook it until completely soft, as it is in our Cantonese bitter melon soup, until crisp-tender, as in our bitter melon with eggs, or somewhere in the middle, like in our beef with bitter melon.   While bitter melon may not be everyone’s favorite produce item, it is INCREDIBLY good for you (check out this article about bitter melon in the National Library of Medicine!), and I happen to love it!  How to Cook Bitter Melon To prepare a bitter melon, you tr

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