Ampalaya



Ampalaya (Tagalog) or Amargozo (Aklanon). Known in the west as Chinese bitter melon or bitter gourd, ampalaya became popular in the news recently because of its putative medicinal value especially against HIV/AIDS (Compound Q). The truth is, it is considered medicinal by many native herbolarios. In folk medicine, the bitter this vegetable is, the more medicinal value it has. We were always reminded during elementarygrades to eat our ampalaya because it is rich in iron. It probably is. It's really an ugly looking vegetable and considered an acquired taste because of its bitterness. The smaller (or more elongate) and greener variety is more bitter than the larger (or plumper) pale green ones that are usually found in Asian-American markets (see picture).

Try it as an omelet or in scrambled eggs (fabulous!) or as a salad (with onions, tomatoes, and cilantro in vinaigrette dressing) in between courses to clean your palate. As a main dish, ampalaya con carne with black bean sauce is also wonderful - the saltiness of the black beans counteracts the bitterness - and pinakbet (a melange of tropical vegetables like squash, eggplant, string beans and amplaya in piquant shrimp paste sauce) is heavenly. The young leaves (ampalaya tops) are also used in dishes like ginisang monggo.

Here's a tip: to remove the bitterness, roll sliced ampalaya pieces in salt; the juice will start to flow; squeeze the juices some more.

More information about ampalaya:

Recipes:


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