The Sweet is a Faintness and the Bitter is a Medicine
I often hear the old Thai saying หวานเป็นลม ขมเป็นยา: kwan pen lom kom pen yah. This culinary wisdom literally says “the sweet is a faintness and the bitter is a medicine.” Growing up in a village in Thailand with my grandma and her friends, I acquired a taste for the bitter and exotic vegetables from their gardens and the wilderness around us.
Bitter melon or Bitter Gourd is called มะระ—Mara—in Thai. Its scientific name is Momordica charantia and it is native to Asia and Africa. It is a climbing annual plant that one can grow anytime, anywhere in Southeast Asia and South Asia regardless of the season.
Bitter Melon – Photo from my morning walk in Hoi An, Vietnam
In most Thai or Asian villages, where there is a fence or an arbor there will be a climbing plant next to it. There just needs to be a space large enough for seeds to grow.
Chinese Bitter Melon – the China phenotype is common in Thailand
Bitter melon is best eaten when it is green and young. When the fruit grows older, the taste gets more bitter. It is not common to eat the older fruit when it turns yellow-orange and the seeds become red; at this later stage the plant is mainly used for growing the seeds for future new plants.
Indian variety of bitter melon – photo from my visit to a market in Hue, Vietnam
Bitter melon is widely cooked in many ways in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, I often enjoy it in stir-fried dishes with soy sauce and with or without egg. It is also popular with mara yad sai—stuffed with pork in a soup. Fresh green or boiled bitter melon can be served in a Thai crudites platter with Thai chili dip, or it can accompany pickled cabbage in a pork-bone soup or stewed bitter melon and pork-bone soup. It can also be cooked in a curry dish as well. In Myanmar and Bangladeshi, bitter melon is often stir-fried with garlic and turmeric powder.
How to prepare bitter melon
All parts of the fruit are edible after you remove the seeds and stem. For stir-fries, thin-slice the melon as shown above. Then I often take steps to reduce some of the bitterness. There are two ways to do this: put the sliced melon in boiling water for a few minutes and then strain out the melon and discard the water. Or sprinkle some salt on the melon, mix it in well and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing them in water. You may squeeze to dry. I personally like to use this latter method before making my stir-fries as some of the bitter flavor is left behind.
Why should you eat bitter melon? For much the same reason that you eat broccoli or spinach: for their health benefits. Bitter melon is an aid to diabetes control. It lowers blood sugar and promotes healthy insulin levels; besides that it also has Vitamin C, B1 and B2. While more studies need to be done, it is time to learn about new vegetables like bitter melon or get back to eating them routinely and celebrating the sweet truth about bitter melon. Cheers to a bitter melon!
Stir-fried Bitter Melon with Egg
Stir-fried Bitter Melon with Egg
Phad Mara Kub Khai
ผัดมะระกับไข่
Serves: 4
Cooking Time: 4 minutes
When one has acquired a taste for bitter melon, stir-fried bitter melon with egg is a delightful dish. Personally, it makes me happy like after eating bitter-sweet chocolate. A bite of sliced bitter melon contrasts with the sweet, cooked egg and the hint of salty-soy flavor, making this three-flavor combination very memorable and it lingers on my palate. When trying this dish for the first time, don’t be afraid of the bitter that you will taste at first. Wait a little while and you will taste the sweet from the egg, then the salty from the soy sauce. Serve the stir-fried bitter melon as a side with a curry dish and warm steamed jasmine rice.
Serves: 2
3 to 5 tablespoons canola oil 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 2 eggs 1½ cups sliced bitter melon, about 1 large bitter melon 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon sugar ½ cup water or chicken broth Heat a wok on high heat until it is hot. Pour in 3 tablespoons canola oil and stir in garlic. When garlic is golden, stir in one egg and stir a few times. When the egg is cooked, stir in bitter melon. Stir for 1 minute, then add another egg and stir a few times before adding soy sauce and sugar. Add water or chicken broth and let it cook 1 minute. Depending on one’s liking, the melon should be not too soft or to firm; it should still have some crunch. Serve warm with steamed jasmine rice. © 2011 Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen I Love Thai cooking Pranee teaches Thai Cooking classes in the Seattle area. Her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com . Related articles- Bitter gourd Sambar – Ideal for Diabetics (kish.in)
- Health Benefits of Bitter Melon (notecook.com)
- Reduxs (l2ee2l.wordpress.com)
- Bittermelon juice kills pancreatic cancer cells (beveragedaily.com)
- Bitter Melon with Spiced Potatoes, Watery Dahl and Homemade Naan (foodthinking.wordpress.com)
- Home remedies using Karela (prophet666.com)
iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen
Pranee's Thai Kitchen 
Hi Pranee, I’ve enjoyed bitter melon many times and like your combination here with egg. Thanks for sharing! I love your photos, too. 🙂
Thanks, Hannah! I also love the garlic and turmeric flavor as well. For photos, it is quite a collection over the past three years.
I hope you enjoy the beautiful weather in Seattle!
Pranee
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How are you able to grow bitter melon in Seattle? I thought it was a “hot” climate vegetable. My Grandma used to grow this at the back of our house in Vietnam, and then she’d make me climb the fence to pick the dry ones later (for seeds). Fond memories. I’ve never conquered that bitterness enough to eat it more than once a year. Maybe. I know they’re super nutritious…
Bitter melon is available everyday at Asian market in Seattle and I will check with them to where it comes from. I ate a lot in Thailand and has acquired taste for it.
Thanks, Pranee
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Bitter melon is my absolute FAVORITE! I’ve loved it since I was a kid. Reading this just gave me a sudden huge craving, though unfortunately I’ve never seen bitter melon sold anywhere in Spain. I’m now making myself a note to find some seeds when I’m back in the US and to start a little backyard growing project when the warm weather returns 🙂 Super post, beautiful photos!!
I am lucky to live closed to Asian market with fresh bitter melon all year rounds. I am not sure about Asian market in Spain. If it were any Chinese or Asian market, there might be seeds that you could buy. In the US you can start your search with Amazon.com, I found 5 companies selling them with Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=bitter+gourd+seeds&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=7506496237&ref=pd_sl_5jpn63c30z_b
Thanks…Pranee
I’m a die-hard fan of Thai food and I love your blog. 🙂
Thanks for your feedback, I will keep more dishes coming. Happy New Year!
Hi Pranee
It’s a pretty easy recipe to try out, very short preparation time, I just added two red spur chilies, came out tasty and color full, yes it is mouth watering.
Thanks
Siri
Thank you! Excellent! This week when I was in Washington DC, I found a spur chilies for the first time!!! I put it in everything for color. I would do the same. Since my photos and video, doesn’t have it. I leave it out.
Sawatdee Khrap Pranee,
I am an American resident in Thailand and I love me some bitter melon! This dish is of course available here easily and not expensive but I decided to try this recipe and alter it a bit to make it a one dish meal. I added sliced pepper ham made by a German company in Thailand and also added some Thai dried chili flakes to the soy sauce/sugar mixture. I added the ham slices at the same time as the melon. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. It turned out great. A bit of a fusion experience as it reminded me of good old American ham and eggs, but with lots of bitten melon. I will add this fusiony dish to my regular rotation. Thanks for the recipe!
[…] I was home in Phuket again in August and September this year. It was like taking a culinary vacation for real Thai food. At almost every meal with family and friends in my Thai village we ate authentic Thai food just like my grandma and our ancestors used to eat. Thai cuisine is famous for its harmonious balance of pungent hot, sweet, sour and salty. However, only native Thais embrace the bitter side of Thai food. What I learned from my grandmother is that the bitter is medicine. […]
You can grow bitter melon or bitter gourd in Seattle. My sister-in-law grew it last summer in a large container and it produced a fair amount of fruits. I would say, the time to start planting them is in early May, which is now. However, you should soak the seeds in water for at least 24 hours to help with germination. I soaked my in water and put them in a plastic cup with soil. I will transplant them in about 2-3 weeks. I hope to harvest a few fruits for dinner. If all fail, I can always use the leaves/vines to make soap too.
Thank you for sharing. I would to try it, where should I buy the seed. Thank you.
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