May
21
2012

The bitter bitter gourd soup

The weather has been hot like crazy these days so I thought of boiling my favourite bitter gourd soup over the weekend to cool us down. I’ve never boiled this before I tell you though I’ve had it outside countless times.

How hard can it be? It’s just like boiling any other soup but instead of using old cucumber or anything else, we use bitter gourd. No?

–  pork ribs
–  bitter gourd 苦瓜 (rub salt after removing the seeds to reduce bitterness and rinse)
–  carrots
–  honey dates
–  red dates
–  wolfberries
–  water
–  salt

An hour after boiling it, I tasted the soup and OMG so bitter! There is NO way Ethan, Darling or even ME will drink this. Where did I go wrong? How come my soup so bitter?! :'(

I got rid of the entire pot of soup and boiled my classic old cucumber soup instead. This is guaranteed to be Ethan’s favourite but I’m still disappointed my bitter gourd soup did not turn out well…

34 Comments + Add Comment

  • //

    Maybe you need to add sugar? Hahaha!!!

    • //

      I tot the honey dates will be good enough?

  • //

    I think the bitter gourd 苦瓜 not enough marinated with the salt. Should set it a while then only rinse with water

    • //

      15 mins.. tak cukup? hehe.. ok, next time i set aside for an hour or maybe TWO to be safe!

  • //

    Bitter I like! You shouldn’t have thrown all away! Pass the soup to me mah : D

    • //

      Ish.. go drink Panadol lah u :P

  • //

    Yeah Foong is right!
    I think my grandma adds sugar also… maybe try to google for some tips :p

    • //

      I googled they say the pork ribs and honey dates will make this soup sweet enough but mine is like BITTER to the max with no such sweetness at all :(

  • //

    OK don’t know much about cooking, but maybe you can add more honey dates and less bitter gourd to sweeten the soup? : )

    • //

      OK maybe I should put more honey dates and DON’T put the bitter gourd in this bitter gourd soup! :D

  • //

    it is definetely a hot hot hot weather.. n it is killing me..
    u r making bitter gourd soup .. of course is bitter le … “faint” kekekeke…
    Hey I like biiter guord soup….
    i think they don’t boil the bitterguord together…
    they cook the pork soup base and then put the bittergourd in the last process (maybe cook for few minutes) so that it is not biiter…. i guess…

    • //

      Haha.. yeah! LoL! Of coz bitter lah kan? Hehe.. but i’ve tasted the ones sold outside, not bitter oso leh? Mebe what you said is true. Maybe those bitter gourd pieces are just as decor … hmm…

  • //

    well perhaps you need to soak the bitter gourd in boiling water for a while, then only take out and put into your soup. is like letting the bitter juice to come out first? LOL

    • //

      Yerr.. sayang lah liddat! habis all the nutrients..

  • //

    I think it is because the bitter gourd itself.

    • //

      But when I fry it with egg it’s not as bitter.. Pening I tell you.. Pening! >_<

      • //

        Maybe can try to scrape off the inner white pith or choose bitter that are firm and light green?

  • //

    Oh rub salt after removing the seeds to reduce bitterness and rinse, thanks for the tips.

  • //

    like all said, rub salt, and boiled the bittergout with water first before putting in the soup…

  • //

    Name already bitter gourd, what did you expect? Actually, the more bitter, the better – medicinal value, health benefit. LOL!!!

  • //

    my mom used to marinate it with Salt too.. sometimes she used lime as well to removed the bitter taste ..
    I love it especially when my mom adds it to her omelet yum yum

  • //

    The bitter the yummier ma.. haha

  • //

    Yesterday, I boiled the soup of pumpkin, corn, red dates and port meat. Very sweet and yummy. My two girls’s favourite soup.

  • //

    I love bittergourd soup.. add more honey dates will do.. So nice!

  • //

    Aiya…i should order the bittergourd soup from you..I love it!…I think it’s the bittergourd that is bitter. We need to learn how to choose the bittergourd from market :P.

  • //

    Depends on the bittergourd..some are not bitter, but then how to know hehe. There must be some ways to make it not bitter.

  • //

    Myabe you can consult your mother. LOL. they more hebat in this. xD I cant give a good comment on this. LOL. Coz i dont know how to cook! xD

  • //

    Full of goodness in your soup. Usually my style would be mixing minced pork with mushroom into the ring of the bitter gourd, add some ginger and/or salted mushroom into the soup.

  • //

    Eh, rub salt ar? But I always rub sugar instead. Anyway, bittergourd soup is supposed to be bitter wat, no? I like all my bittergourd dishes to be bitter. Sometimes we’ll get bittergourds that are not bitter at all and that to me is, not nice :p

  • //

    Merryn, try washing and soaking the bitter gourd with salt before you boil it.. and buy those light green bitter gourd with wider gap… :)

  • //

    Merryn, did you put cold water or hot water during the initial stage of cooking? I’m not sure whether it would help or no, but I usually used hot water in the pot, instead of letting the water boil with the ingredients. No bitter wor….

  • //

    rub the bittergourd with some salt and then rinse well. That will remove some of the bitterness. I also throw in an egg and tomatoes to give the soup more colour and flavour.

  • //

    My favourite. Bitter gourd. =P

  • //

    I buy the bittergroud that had a lighter green and the split is far apart( don’t buy those split that are close that sure to guarantee it bitter) after cutting them I boil the bittergourd in the boiling water for a few minutes then remove and throw in together the the rest of the ingredients.

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I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.

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