Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Vietnamese stuffed bitter gourd soup

Since this week is Lunar New Year, I can't get enough with my traditional food. So here it is : traditional bitter gourd/melon soup. This recipe was derived from the South part of Vietnam and it is very healthy and delicious.
As always, I borrowed other's measurement since I don't measure at all during cooking. This recipe came from phamfatale.com and I changed the ingredients a little bit because I have never used tofu in this soup to reserve the clear broth. I also added some mushroom to add a little sweet to the soup. 
Enjoy cooking!

Ingredients

Yields: 8 servings

1 can of Chicken broth

4 fresh bitter melons
2 teaspoon canola oil
2 shallots, finely diced
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon green onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
 4 wood ear mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon mushroom seasoning salt (or regular salt)
2 ounces dried bean thread noodles
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

Preparation

Prepping the bitter melons: Cut the bittermelons in half. Using a melon ball scoop, remove and discard the spongy center and the seeds. Soak the bitter melons in lemon water.

Prepping the bean thread noodles: Place the dried bean thread noodles in a bowl. Don't forget to cut the little cotton threads and discard them! Soak them in cold water for 20 minutes and drain. Cut into 1 inch lengths. Set aside.



In a large bowl, combine the tofu, bean thread noodles, cilantro, shallots, onions, green onions, sugar and wood ear mushrooms. Season with mushroom seasoning salt and pepper.

Remove and discard the liquid from the bitter melons. Pat them dry and stuff them with the  mixture. You can use toothpicks to keep the mixture from falling out.

Bring the water and chicken broth to a boil and Place the stuffed bitter gourds. Then reduce the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add some fish sauce and salt to your tastes. When you see the mixture inside is cooked and the bitter gourds should be soft and tender but still firm and slightly green (not fall apart). Turn off the heat and it is ready to be served with a fish sauce. 


1 comment:

  1. This was one of the dish that I want to make..I have a long list of food I wanted to make. Nice job.

    ReplyDelete