Gōyā chanpurū, again

Another version of gōyā chanpurū. I do love these bitter melons.


I sautéed pork belly and set it aside, then the bitter melon (until browned), and then scrambled an egg in sesame oil. I then sautéed the tofu, adding the melon and pork. This was then assembled with the egg on the side, drizzled with shoyu and sesame oil. Finish with Japanese Seven Spice powder (shichimi togarashi).

bitter melon

Above is a bitter melon that I purchased on a whim at the farmer's market. The most basic way too cook one seemed the Okinawan stir-fry gōyā chanpurū (it made sense to keep it simple to highlight its flavor).

Cutting the melon open, it has a spongy core and hard seeds that look like pumpkin seeds embedded therein. It smelled like a random plant that you pull up, smell and remember why only certain plants are edible. A strong, fresh, chlorophyll smell. I scraped out the spongy center. It tasted incredibly bitter, very green.

I salted the sliced bitter melon and then washed it a few times. I sautéed them in hot oil and then added tofu, mirin and shoyu. It remained firm and crunchy despite being cooked well, thus muting the bitterness. The pressed tofu was a rich foil for the bitter vegetable. Very very good.