Bitter Gourd Soup Recipes Chinese

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Bitter Melon is a superfood—one of the healthiest vegetables (fruits?) you can eat! Pork mellows out its strong flavor, and as we head into fall, this is the perfect transitional soup.

This is our second bitter melon recipe this summer. The fact Sarah had two bowls of this soup in one sitting is a true testament to how delicious it really is.

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With all the food we’ve been making for the cookbook photoshoots lately, I had some leftover rib bones trimmed from a few large slabs of pork belly. (You can bet that my Shanghai Braised Pork Belly recipe is going into the book!)

We’ve also had a good streak of hot summer days, and my three bitter melon plants are producing at a good pace.

Bitter melon doesn’t do much to sell itself with that name alone. I know it’s no crowd pleaser, but it’s one of our favorite summer produce items! 

Bitter Gourd Soup To Boost Your Immunity

This time of year, the bitter melons are popping out of the garden and turning up in the Chinese markets in big numbers. It’s probably unimaginable that some of us are addicted to it, but we really do look forward to it every year!

It detoxifies the body, helps lower blood pressure, and reduces inflammation. When combined with barley, another healthy food, this soup can also help to expel dampness, which according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, is the root to many of our health problems!

If you know how to handle bitter melon, the bitterness of it doesn’t hold you back. Like Chinese mustard greens, the bitter flavor mellows out when the melon is cooked for longer periods of time or when balanced with meat and bold flavors.

Bitter Gourd Pork Rib Soup

To some people who may not be familiar with Cantonese soups, they might say that they taste bland. They are definitely more delicate when compared to western soups, but bland isn’t the word!

What’s more, the attention paid to a Cantonese soup is often in the medicinal properties of the broth, and restaurants often only serve the broth (rather than the meat and vegetables–though everything should be enjoyed in a home setting).

Many Cantonese soups use pork bones or lean pork as a source of umami. But for protein, do feel free to substitute chicken if pork is not a part of your diet.

Bitter Gourd Pork Ribs Soup

Transfer to a deep stock pot with just enough water to submerge them. Bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute.

Set over high heat, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately turn the heat down to medium low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours.

While the soup is simmering, slice the bitter melon in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and scrape away all of the white pith, which can be particularly bitter. Cut each half into large chunks. Set aside.

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After 2 hours of simmering, skim the fat off the surface of the soup. Add the bitter melon, cover, and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Add salt to taste before serving (you can also add MSG for extra oomph if desired—this is completely optional!). Serve with light soy sauce to dip the tender pork ribs into.

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Egg Drop Bittergourd Soup

Bitter Melon Soup with Pork Bones is a delicious Cantonese-style soup with simple, pure ingredients. It's also easy to make at home!

Calories: 270 kcal (14%) Carbohydrates: 11 g (4%) Protein: 14 g (28%) Fat: 19 g (29%) Saturated Fat: 6 g (30%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 3 g Monounsaturated Fat: 7 g Trans Fat: 1 g Cholesterol: 64 mg (21%) Sodium: 278 mg (12%) Potassium: 407 mg (12%) Fiber: 3 g (12%) Sugar: 2 g (2%) Vitamin A: 269 IU (5%) Vitamin C: 48 mg (58%) Calcium: 36 mg (4%) Iron: 1 mg (6%)

Is written and produced for informational purposes only. While we do our best to provide nutritional information as a general guideline to our readers, we are not certified nutritionists, and the values provided should be considered estimates. Factors such as brands purchased, natural variations in fresh ingredients, etc. will change the nutritional information in any recipe. Various online calculators also provide different results, depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities used.

Cantonese Bitter Melon Soup With Pork Bones

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Judy is the mom of The Woks of Life family. Born in Shanghai, she arrived in the U.S. at age 16. Fluent in both English and three separate Chinese dialects, she's our professional menu translator when we're eating our way through China. Dedicated to preserving disappearing recipes and traditions, her specialty is all things traditional, from mooncakes to home-style stir-fries.Bitter gourd is a popular ingredient in Chinese cuisine. This vegetable (or fruit if you want to be precise) can be cooked in many ways. This bitter gourd soup recipe with salted vegetables is one of them.

In TCM, bitter gourd is considered a yin food (food with cooling properties). It can help to cool the body and reduce internal heat. Bitter gourd has many health benefits and is especially beneficial in the hot seasons. It is often used for medicinal purposes. Some of its health benefits include:

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As bitter gourd has numerous health benefits, it is often used as a home remedy by many cultures around the world. However, not many people enjoy eating bitter gourd due to its distinctive bitter taste. For some, it is an acquired taste.

To draw the bitterness from the bitter gourd, blanch the bitter gourd in boiling water for a few minutes. Then plunge in cold water before cooking. Slicing the bitter gourd very thinly before blanching may help too. But for this soup, I would prefer to cut the bitter gourd at an angle into large pieces. You can cut it into smaller pieces if you wish.

It is very common to add other ingredients into a bitter gourd soup to balance the bitter taste and make it more palatable. For instance, salted vegetables and dried scallops help to make this soup more appetizing. In another bitter gourd soup recipe, I added some pineapple and the resultant soup was very soothing, naturally sweet with slightly bitter undertones.

Bitter Gourd And Tofu Pork Soup Recipe By Lii Go

My kids love cranberry beans (珍珠豆) as they have a soft and creamy texture when cooked so I used them in this soup too. They look very pretty in their raw state but the color goes away with cooking and will eventually turn brown. I bought them fresh from the market and it only took about half an hour for the beans to cook. You may also use dried cranberry beans but they would have to be soaked for several hours before cooking.

Bitter gourd can be cooked in many ways – steamed, deep-fried, boiled or braised. Here are some of my other favorite recipes for bitter gourd:

This soup is very hearty with the addition of soy beans and cranberry beans and appetizing despite the bitter taste. It is great with rice or on its own. Have a go at this bitter gourd soup recipe and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Bitter Gourd And Rice Vermicelli Soup

Yvonne O is a soup lover, dreamer and lover of creativity. She's usually in the kitchen cooking, reading or blogging. According to her kids, she's addicted to her laptop and has OCD about cleanliness.Egg drop bittergourd soup ......... this is one soup that I like to whip up as I find it very versatile. It goes well with white rice or just add on some bihun or mee sua for a light and refreshing quick meal!

H erbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Ga o literally translated means 'Tortoise Jelly' is one of my family's favourite desserts.  It's much more economical to prepare this at home for you'll need to fork out between Rm 9 to Rm 11 for a bowl of this cooling dessert in any of those herbal tea outlets.  This soothing jelly, served chilled, is supposed to be able to help reduce our body heat, helps to get rid of toxins and is believed to be good for the skin thus culminating a healthier complexion.

T is the festive season again and the all-time favourite for X'mas is undoubtedly the ubiquitous fruit cake.  This Yoghurt Fruitcake caught my eye when I was browsing through a Food and Travel magazine.  As I've never baked a fruit cake with yoghurt before, I was very eager to try. 

Cooking.tanejas.com: Healthy Bitter Gourd & Fish Bee Hoon Soup

  These Airfried Honey Glazed Chicken Drumsticks are bursting with flavour, crispy and slightly sweetish on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside.  Unlike deep fried chicken drumsticks, these barely have any oil and the only oil there is, are from the chicken skin and fat.  Quick and easy to prepare this for dinner especially for working mums!  Airfried Honey Glazed Chicken