There is nothing bitter about Bitter Gourd...if you know the right technique! Bitter gourd or Ampalaya, as we Filipinos call it, is very refreshing and tastes great when applied as a salad and eaten with chips and salsa as condiment, makes a great meal with any meat.
Ampalaya Salad ingredients:
1 Ampalaya or Bitter gourd cut in half lengthwise
1 cucumber cut in half lengthwise
1 medium Spanish onion cut in half and sliced thinly
1 small carrot sliced thinly
1/2 cup sugarcane vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of salt
1 tspn. black pepper
Recipe:
Using a spoon, scoop out the inside of the bitter gourd and apply a tablespoon of salt on each half and set aside for 10 minutes. In a deep pan, boil water and blanch the bitter gourd and carrots for about half a minute. Pour out the boiling water and set aside. In a bowl mix the water, vinegar, sugar and black pepper and pour the other ingredients and set aside in the refrigerator to cool.
Salsa ingredients:
1 pound of tomatoes, diced
2 spanish onions, diced
3 to 4 tablespoons, chopped cilantro
4-5 green jalapeno peppers or Thai red chiles, diced
1 tspn salt & pepper
1 tspn sugar
1/2 cup sugarcane vinegar
1 tblspn soy sauce
Recipe:
Mix all the ingredients, then in a blender, lightly blend to about 4 split seconds and set aside in the refrigerator to cool. Serve with corn chips.
