Bittergourd Stuffed with Minced Pork (Bittermelon) | BIG Bites MY

Bittergourd Stuffed with Minced Pork (Bittermelon)

This is a pretty dish to look at. The stuffed bittergourd looked like little flowers on the serving plate.

Every now and then, it's just nice to eat something bitter - like having a simple bitter dish to cleanse one's palate after days of rich food.

If you cure the bittergourd well, you can cut down on the bitterness. 

Prepping is not hard and it takes only a mere 15 minutes or so, but there's a waiting time of about 30-60 minutes for the bittergourd to sweat when we apply salt to cure it. This is really SO EASY LAH! The recipe shown here feeds one, just double up accordingly if you are cooking for more.

Another easy veggie and protein dish to go with rice!

Watch video for step-by-step method of preparation

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

Prep time: 20 minutes + 1 hour (curing time)
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serving: 1 (increase portions accordingly if you are cooking for more)

Ingredients:
Part 1:

• 2/3 bittergourd (small size)
• 1 tablespoon salt

Part 2:

• 100g minced pork
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon corn flour
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder

Part 3:

• 45ml (3 tablespoons) chicken stock
• 9 goji berry / wolfberry
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon corn flour

Method:
Part 1:

1. Cut 2/3 of a small bittergourd into 3 sections of equal thickness
2. Use a small knife to remove the core and seeds from the middle part of the bittergourd sections
3. Rub salt into the inner part of the bittergourd rings where the core have been removed
4. Set aside for at least an hour to let it sweat (Salt will draw out some of the bitterness when the bittergourd starts sweating. I prefer to do this the night before and leave it in the fridge to cure.)
5. After an hour, rinse bittergourd well to wash away the salt. Then it's ready for cooking.

Part 2:

1. Add white pepper, soy sauce, oyster sauce and corn flour to minced pork
2. Mix well and set aside to marinate

Part 3:

1. Stuff minced pork into the bittergourd rings
2. Arranged stuffed bittergourd onto a steaming plate
3. Rinse goji berry and then decorate the tops of the stuffed bittergourd
4. Pour chicken stock over stuffed bittergourd
5. Bring water to boil and place a trivet / steamer rack in the pot
6. Steam stuffed bittergourd over MEDIUM HIGH heat for 15 minutes
7. When it’s ready, remove bittergourd and arrange it on a serving plate
8. Strain the bittergourd gravy into a pan and simmer over LOW heat to thicken it
9. Taste and flavour to your liking
10. Add 1 tablespoon of water to 1 tablespoon of corn flour to make a cornstarch slurry. Add cornstarch slurry bit by bit to thicken sauce.
11. Ready to be served when gravy is at a consistency you like