AMPALAYA CON CARNE

Ampalaya is Tagalog for Bitter Gourd or Bitter Melon, a vegetable disliked by many but loved by some, we are long time disciples of the latter persuasion.  While Thai cuisine carries both Chinese & Indian influence, Filipino cooking is linked to Spanish & Chinese roots, as in this recipe. 

This simple dish is common place in local eateries. Lardon or slices of lean pork sauteed in oil, flavored with garlic and preserved black beans until cooked. The Chinese would braise the ampalaya until it is soft but the Filipinos would add it last, with a quick stir fry to retain it crispiness. Interestingly stir-fried ampalaya carries a rather different texture and flavor verses the braised version, when the sharpness of the unique bitter taste is tamed.  It cannot be more simple to cook but does it taste good, with steaming rice which, unfortunealtly, is not in the Filipino culinary language.  Like many Southeast Asian countries they do not seem to mind cold rice, a cardinal sin in a die hard Cantonese kitchen.