Do You Like To Eat Bitter Gourd ?

Bitter gourd or bitter melon or balsam pear is a traditional edible pod and is an annual fruit cultivated in Asia, India, Africa and South America.
It is a tall growing plant that has yellow flowers, lobed leaves and has an edible but bitter tasting yellow-orange tropical fruit. When unripe it is green and has bumps and examples are those in the picture.
It is actually cooked in different ways that you won’t sometimes taste the bitterness because it is delicious. Even it’s young leaves is made into salad mixed with a bit of salt, slices of tomatoes and some squeezed drops of lemon.
It has lots of health benefits especially that it has polypeptide , a nutrient that can help lower blood sugar levels. It also contains a hypoglycemic agent called Charantin which can increase the glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis inside the cells of the liver, fatty tissue and muscle. All of these are thought to reduce the blood sugar level in the treatment of type-2 diabetes.
It is also rich in folate, vitamins C and A, among the others nutrients good for our health.
Although it is bitter tasting as it is, our way of lessening the bitterness here in the Philippines is soaking them sliced thinly, in a bowl of water with lots of salt then washing them before they are finally placed amongst the other ingredients when they are being cooked.
One recipe I like them with, is cooking them in black beans. You just have to sauté slices of meat, chopped tomatoes, onions and garlic in salted black beans which we can actually buy, canned. Put about a cup of water then let it boil until the slices of meats are tender. Taste it if the saltiness is already enough. If not yet, you can put some drops of oyster sauce.
Once the meat is tender, put the slices of the bitter gourd on top and half cook them for a few minutes.
Once done, mix it once, so the mixture will make the slices of bitter gourd tasty. Put them on a platter, because just letting them be in a pan would overcook it.
It’s a delicious dish best partnered with rice.

Actually, some countries have their own other recipes in cooking this and making sure that the dish won’t taste bitter.
Perhaps those who cooks bitter gourd in their countries can share their recipes here too.
I know, to some people who haven’t tasted a dish with bitter gourd, they won’t like it.
But for people who knows how to cook it without it tasting bitter, they can swear that they are delicious.