Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

--------------------------STUFFING-------------------------------
1/2 lb Pork, ground [I minced it
-with cleavers. S.C.]
4 Fresh water chestnuts,
-peeled and finely minced
1 ts Minced fresh ginger root
2 tb Minced scallion
1 1/2 tb Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 ts Sugar
1 tb Thin soy sauce
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 ts Cornstarch
2 lg Bitter melons, about 3/4 to
-1 lb.

---------------------------SAUCE--------------------------------
2 tb Peanut oil
2 ts Minced garlic
1 1/2 tb Fermented black beans
1 tb Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
3/4 c Chicken broth
Salt to taste
1/2 ts Cornstarch mixed with 1
-teaspoon cold chicken broth
1 tb Sesame oil
From Ken Hom's book,
-Chinese Technique.

Combine the stuffing ingredients in a large bowl. Mix them
thoroughly. The hands are the best tool for this job.

Cut the bitter melon into 1-inch slices; discard the end pieces. With
a paring knife, trim out the insides. Lift them out. Stuff the
cavity of each slice with a generous spoonful of stuffing.

Arrange the stuffed pieces of vegetable on a plate and set the plate
on a trivet in a wok over enough hot water to come within 1 inch of
the plate. Cover the wok and steam the food for 20 minutes. Remove
the platter and trivet.

In a separate wok or pan, prepare the sauce. First heat 2 tablespoons
peanut oil. Add the garlic and fermented black beans, stir for a
minute, then add the Shaoxing wine, chicken stock and salt. Add the
liquid that results from the steaming of the melon. Bring the
mixture to a boil. Thicken with the dissolved cornstarch and flavor
with sesame oil.

Pour the sauce over the bitter melons and serve.

Serves 2 as a main course.

NOTE: Hom makes no mention of blanching although another bitter melon
recipe in another book *does* say that it will cut the bitterness.

Posted by Stephen Ceideburg; February 25 1991.

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