Bitter Melon Scrambled Omelette

Growing up my parents didn’t force us to eat broccoli.  Instead, they forced my brothers and I to eat ampalaya (Tagalog word for bitter melon).  Compared to bitter melon, eating a broccoli would be like eating chocolates. My brothers and I really hated it growing up.  But surprisingly when you grow up, you tend to crave for things that you’ve eaten when you were a kid.

I have only made this once before.  I don’t remember if my husband ate it.  This time, he actually tried it and finished a whole serving himself.  I was so happy that he finished it!

I think what helped in making it less bitter is because we squeezed it with water and salt before cooking it.  It tasted really delicious.  We finished it all before the rice was even cooked.

Want to try out cooking this bitter melon recipe?

Here’s our version of Bitter Melon Scrambled Omelette

Ingredients: 

Eggs (2) 
Bitter Melon / Ampalaya (0.5 lbs or 2 regular pieces) 
Tomato (2 one inch diameter tomatoes) 
Salt 
Pepper 
Garlic (1 clove) – or –  (substitute:  a teaspoon of garlic oil)
Chicken Bullion (optional)

Steps: 

1. Cut bitter melon in half – like when you’re chopping a log – have stand upright or laying – whichever way that will help you slice it in half
2. Remove the seeds using spoon scraping all of of the seed and dry spongy type texture
3. Once seeds have been removed you can now start half moon cut the bitter melon.  When cutting you need to cut it really thin. But not too thin that it would look like it was shaved cheese.  I would say about no thicker than 0.25 centimeters
   After chopping / cutting, the bitter melon should be shaped like a rainbow (not kidding!)
4. Place chopped bitter melon in a bowl – a salad bowl would work nicely for this
   Add 2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of iodized salt
   Using your hands mix the bitter melon with water and salt while trying to squeeze the bitter melon.  Doing this, will help in decreasing the bitter taste of the vegetable.  I would say to try to do this until the vegetable look a bit thinner than when you originally cut it.  Then, drain water.
5. Heat up the pan with vegetable oil and stir fry the chopped garlic
   Then the bitter melon about 5 minutes or until it changes color and starts to get limp – keep the pan in high heat
6. Add the tomato (rough chopped)
7. (OPTIONAL)   Add chicken bullion (half a cube or a teaspoon) with 1/4 cup of water and stir, still in high heat, let water evaporate
8. Beat eggs in separate bowl and add in the pan, scramble the eggs until cooked
9. Add salt and pepper to taste and ready to serve on a plate

This dish is usually eaten as a side with the rice.
Next time, I’ll try to take pictures of the prep work.
Let me know how yours tasted like.

Bitter Melon Scrambled Omelette – 03.17.18