Name: Steamed Stuffed Bitter Melon
Ingredients: 1/2 lb Pork, ground [I minced it with cleavers. S.C.]; 4 Fresh water chestnuts, peeled and finely minced; 1 ts Minced fresh ginger root; 2 tb Minced scallion; 1 1/2 tb Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 1/2 ts Salt; 1/2 ts Sugar; 1 tb Thin soy sauce; 1 Egg, lightly beaten; 1 ts Cornstarch; 2 lg Bitter melons, about 3/4 to 1 lb.; 2 tb Peanut oil; 2 ts Minced garlic; 1 1/2 tb Fermented black beans; 1 tb Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 3/4 c Chicken broth; Salt to taste; 1/2 ts Cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon cold chicken broth; 1 tb Sesame oil; From Ken Hom's book, Chinese Technique.

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Grains, Eggs	Chinese	Chinese, Pork, Ceideburg 2	2	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1/2	lb	Pork, ground [I minced it with cleavers. S.C.]
4		Fresh water chestnuts, peeled and finely minced
1	ts	Minced fresh ginger root
2	tb	Minced scallion
1 1/2	tb	Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
1/2	ts	Salt
1/2	ts	Sugar
1	tb	Thin soy sauce
1		Egg, lightly beaten
1	ts	Cornstarch
2	lg	Bitter melons, about 3/4 to 1 lb.
2	tb	Peanut oil
2	ts	Minced garlic
1 1/2	tb	Fermented black beans
1	tb	Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
3/4	c	Chicken broth
		Salt to taste
1/2	ts	Cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon cold chicken broth
1	tb	Sesame oil
		From Ken Hom's book, Chinese Technique.

INSTRUCTIONS

STUFFING
SAUCE
Combine the stuffing ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix them
thoroughly. The hands are the best tool for this job.
Cut the bitter melon into 1-inch slices; discard the end pieces. With
a paring knife, trim out the insides.  Lift them out.  Stuff the
cavity of each slice with a generous spoonful of stuffing.
Arrange the stuffed pieces of vegetable on a plate and set the plate
on a trivet in a wok over enough hot water to come within 1 inch of
the plate. Cover the wok and steam the food for 20 minutes.  Remove
the platter and trivet.
In a separate wok or pan, prepare the sauce.  First heat 2 tablespoons
peanut oil.  Add the garlic and fermented black beans, stir for a
minute, then add the Shaoxing wine, chicken stock and salt.  Add the
liquid that results from the steaming of the melon.  Bring the
mixture to a boil. Thicken with the dissolved cornstarch and flavor
with sesame oil.
Pour the sauce over the bitter melons and serve.
Serves 2 as a main course.
NOTE:  Hom makes no mention of blanching although another bitter melon
recipe in another book *does* say that it will cut the bitterness.
Posted by Stephen Ceideburg; February 25 1991.
File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/cberg2.zip

A Message from our Provider:

“Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoy now. #A.W. Tozer”