Beef with Bitter Melon (涼瓜炒牛肉)

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Beef & bitter melon stir fry (涼瓜炒牛肉) with black bean sauce is a classic and traditional Chinese cuisine. This beef and bitter melon recipe has simple ingredients and takes around 20 minutes. Let’s learn how to cook bitter melon with beef!

Love authentic Chinese food? Check out these crab stir fry, beef and broccoli, stir fry water spinach, scallion pancakes, ginger milk curd and garlic chives & eggs recipes.

beef with bitter melon stir fry on a white plate with a blue towel

What is a beef with bitter melon dish?

Beef and bitter melon stir fry (涼瓜炒牛肉) is a classic Chinese cuisine. It uses garlic and fermented black beans sauce stir fry with beef and bitter melon. Also, some people like to boil bitter melon with salt, oil and sugar to remove the bitter taste. However, some like to stir fry the bitter melon first. Then, use it to stir fry with meat. In this beef and bitter melon recipe, I used the stir fry method.

Not many young kids like this dish because of the bitterness from the bitter melons. When I was a kid, I didn’t like bitter melons. But, my mother likes making this beef with bitter melon stir fry. Throughout the years, I learned to eat this dish. It’s similar to life that is not always sweet and good. Sometimes, it is bitter and hard to try at first.

What is bitter melon?

Momordica charantia is the scientific name for bitter melon. In Mandarin Chinese, it calls kǔ guā (苦瓜). But, most Cantonese people call it loeng gwaa (涼瓜) which means cool or refreshing melon to replace the word of bitter. Besides, there are different ways to call ku gua such as bitter apple, bitter gourd, bitter squash, balsam-pear. Also, it is widely used in Asia and Southeast Asia cuisine.

Bitter melon has a lot of vitamin C and good health benefits. Besides, in Chinese cuisine, bitter melon is valued for its bitter flavor. Therefore, it usually stir fries with beef and fermented black beans sauce, makes soup, dim sum, and tea.

Although ku gua is native to Africa, it has been used in Chinese folk medicine for centuries as a 'bitter and cold' herb. In Chinese medicine point of view, pregnant women should not consume ku gua because it is regards as cold that can induce bleeding, contractions, and miscarriage.

What are the ingredients for beef with bitter melon black bean sauce?

The main ingredients are beef, ku gua (bitter melon), garlic and douchi (fermented black beans).

Cooking tips for how to cook bitter melon with beef:

Wash, cut and remove the seed from bitter melon. Then, slice it around ¼ inch thick. Stir fry with oil, salt and water for 2-3 minutes until it’s soft.
Marinate beef with garlic powder, soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce and sesame oil for at least 15 minutes before cooking.
Stir fry garlic and douchi (fermented black beans) sauce first, then add marinated beef. When the beef starts changing color, add the cooked bitter melon and stir fry a little bit.

FAQs:

How do you make bitter melon not bitter?

Cut and remove seeds from the bitter gourd. Some like to boil bitter melon with salt, oil and sugar for 2-3 minutes to remove the bitter taste. Some like to stir fry the bitter melon with salt and water first. Then, use it to stir fry with meat.

Can I use other meat instead of beef?

Yes, you can use chicken or pork. Personally, I like to use beef because this dish originally stir fry with beef. Some stir fry ku gua with pork spare ribs.

What kind of beef do you use?

Any beef steak is ok such as tri tip. In this beef and bitter melon recipe, I used beef top round steak.

What are fermented black beans?

Fermented black beans is call douchi (豆豉) in Chinese. It is a type of fermented and salted black soybean. A lot of Chinese cuisines like to use black bean sauce such as steam fish and steam pork ribs.

Instructions for how to cook bitter melon with beef:

1. Peel and wash 5 cloves of garlic and mince it.

using a silver spoon remove seeds from bitter melon

2. Wash and half 2 small-medium sized bitter melons. Then, remove the seeds from bitter melon using a spoon.

3. Slices bitter melon around ¼ inch thick.

4. Wash and slice 1 pound of beef steak into strips.

marinated beef with seasoning in the silver bowl

5. Put the beef into a bowl. Then, add ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, ½ tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Mix it well. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes before cooking.