Ampalaya con Carne

If I have to translate that in English ... I think it is... Bittermelon with Meat... It doesn't sound convincing... perhaps it can be named Sautee'd Bittermelon??? Well, whatever it is, the fact is, it is all about bittermelon.

Bittermelon is very common in Asian grocery store here in the USA. From the name alone, one would know how it would taste like. It is bitter.

Bittermelon is always present in our kitchen table in the Philippines. A lot don't like bittermelon because of its bitter taste but I do. In fact, we came up with different recipes for bittermelon, there is the salad, grilled, pakbet (mixture of veggies and salted shrimp), bittermelon with egg and of course ampalaya con carne.

My personal secret, to lessen the bitterness of the bittermelon is to cut it in half and scrape all the white part with spoon and not overcook it. I even prefer to just half cook it.

Here's what i did with my ampalaya con carne.

Sautee garlic, onions and pork strips. Add sliced bittermelon. Season with Dale's Seasoning and a dash of black pepper. Cook until ampalaya is half cook and still crunchy.

I don't measure my ingredients because, I always cook for myself only.