Ginisang ampalaya (Sautéed bitter melon)

When I was a younger, I only eat certain vegetables. I especially love beans ( Baguio beans and sitaw) , squash and potatoes. And I really hate eating bitter melon or ampalaya. I mean. is there a kid who loves to eat amapalaya? I don't think so. My mother always cook sautéed ampalaya and pair it with fried galunggong. And I would only eat the fish. But now that I'm older and trying to eat healthy, I have changed my views about ampalaya. They say the bitter it is, the better.  I still don't like the taste, to be honest. But it doesn't stop me from buying and cooking it. I would savor the bitterness of the vegetable, and always convince myself that this bitter vegetable is good for me. It works. Sauteed ampalaya is now one of the dishes I cook these days.

Bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd, bitter squash, or ampalaya in Filipino, has many health benefits. Scientific name is Momordica charantia. It is a tropical vegetable grown in Asia and Africa. The fruit is usually used for cooking, but the flower and vine with young leaves are also edible. Some people prefer to use bitter melon leaves in their ginisang munggo instead of malunggay leaves.

Bitter melon has certain medicinal benefits. Some claim its capacity to cure or control diabetes (ampalaya tablets are now sold in the market). Some say it can reduce fever, prevent cancer, HIV and AIDS and other infections. Although these claims are not yet proven.

In the Philippines, ampalaya is usually sautéed with ground pork, beef or shrimp, egg, tomatoes and onion. The flower and leaves are used in ginisang munggo or sinigang. In some provinces like Pampanga , they stuff the vegetable with ground pork mixture similar to stuffed bell pepper. Ampalaya is also one of the main ingredients in popular Filipino dish, pinakbet.

My recipe for sautéed ampalaya depends on what ingredients I have in the fridge. Sometimes I would add long beans with it. Sometimes spinach. But today, I have kale in my fridge, it's been there for a week now and has to be cooked. So I'm adding it to my recipe. The first time I tried kale, it was in a salad, it was good but a little biter and hard for my taste. I immediately thought I would prefer it cooked. I specifically bought kale a week ago for ginisang munggo, which my daughter loves. I only used half of what I bought. The rest, went to this dish.  Here is my sautéed ampalaya recipe.

Ingredients

2      pcs       medium ampalaya, cleaned and sliced diagonally
5      stalks   kale, washed and cut in 3 pcs
1      pc        medium tomatoes, diced
1      pc        medium onion, roughly chopped
2     cloves  garlic, minced
2     pcs       brown eggs, slightly bitten
2     tbsp     vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

To prepare ampalaya, it has to be washed, cut in half diagonally. take the middle part using a spoon. slice, about 1cm thick, add lots of salt and water. Let stand for at least 30 minutes before cooking to mimimize the bitterness. Set aside. Then drain and wash before cooking.

In a saucepan, sautee garlic, onion and tomatoes.  Add the ampalaya. Cook for 10minutes. Add kale, eggs and salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes.  Serve with rice and fried fish.