Bitter Gourd with Short Ribs
I think you would know by now that I love bitter gourd. You can say the love is bittersweet. From time to time I would try and experiment with different recipes just so that I can have my favourite bitter gourd for my meals.
So in this rendition of bitter gourd in black bean sauce, I have decided to try out Beef Short Ribs. These cuts are the nicely marbled slices that you would usually have at Korean BBQ restaurants. When stir fried, these beef slices are tender and flavorful umami.
Best part is, they sold it at an NTUC nearby. As they say, it cant get any better than that.
Recipe
Ingredients
1 whole Bitter Gourd (I usually select the largest one from the wet market. But you can choose a smaller one if you like, medium size is best.)
150 grams Beef Short Ribs (NTUC or Cold Storage sells these, stir fry for 2 persons, this is usually enough.)
4 tbsp Olive Oil (the bigger the bigger gourd, the more oil you need)
2 inches Young Ginger (you can use any ginger, but this is the type that I usually like to work with for a light marination of the beef. It tenderises it nicely.)
1 tsp Sesame Seed Oil
1 tbsp Salted Black Bean Sauce (there are many brands around, I am currently using Tiger Brand and it works out quite well for me.)
5 cloves Garlic (just rough chop The garlic and they are ready, my son loves the chunky bits of garlic.)
1 tsp Kikkoman Soya Sauce (by far the Kikkoman brand of soya sauce is the most flavourful.)
Drizzle of Thai Fish Sauce (I like Thai Fish Sauce for its light flavour and it works well with vegetables especially when you stir fry.)
Method
1. Start off by marinating the beef slices in grated ginger and its juice. Add soya sauce and sesame seed to flavour the beef slices. Leave it in a bowl for about 10 minutes while you prepare the bigger gourd slices.
2. After slicing the bitter gourd thinly so that it would cook faster, soak it in cold water for a while. Prepare the garlic by rough chopping and after that you can fire up the wok.
3. Add the oil, turn it up medium heat. Stir fry the garlic for a while until it slightly browns and then add in the black bean sauce. Fry till you can smell the fragrance.
4. Add the marinated beef slices, juice and all, and continue frying until the meat starts to change colour a little. Then add the washed bitter gourd slices to stir fry.
5. Turn the heat to high, add a little water and then cover the lid to allow it to steam cook for about 5 minutes.
6. Make sure that the bitter gourd slices all turn soft and darker green before serving. It shouldn’t be light green after you are done with it. That’s it!
Bon Appetit!
Bitter Gourd sliced thinly
Marinated beef short ribs in grated ginger