Keyword: beef with bitter gourd, beef with bitter melon, stir fry beef with bitter gourd
Prep Time: 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 15 minutesminutes
Total Time: 30 minutesminutes
Servings: 5
Calories: 195kcal
Author: Bee Leng
Turns out that grandma was right - bitter gourd is good for you! Try cooking this superfood with some umami black bean sauce and succulent stir fried beef. It's both healthy and delicious! #bittergourdwithstirfriedbeef #theburningkitchen #tbk
Cut the bittergourd into slices. Read my article How to Choose and Prepare Bitter Gourd on how to do so.
Add 1 TBsp salt in the bitter gourd and gently toss up a few times until it is limp. Be careful not to break it up to pieces. Leave it for 15 mins.
Drain off the bitter juices from the bitter gourd. Wash it with water a few times and squeeze out the water and drain dry.
Cut the beef into slices and marinate with the beef marinade ingredients.
Remove the skin from the ginger and slice it thinly.
Peel and chop the garlic finely.
Pound the fermented black bean coarsely.
In a separate bowl, add in all the gravy ingredients and mix well
COOKING METHOD
Add 1 Tbsp oil into the wok over medium high heat. Add the ginger and fry until fragrant.
Add the bittergourd and fry until it is limp. Try cutting a piece of bittergourd with the spatula. If it cuts easily and still remain a bit crunchy, remove and transfer to a plate.
Add the remaining oil (2 Tbsp) into the wok. Turn down the fire to low, then add the fermented black bean and garlic and fry until aromatic (about 1 min).
Turn the heat to medium high. Add in the beef and fry for 3 mins.
Lastly pour back the bittergourd into the beef and mix well.
Give a stir to the gravy seasoning before adding it to the bitter gourd mixture. Fry until the beef is cooked to your preferred ‘doneness’.
Transfer to a plate and serve hot.
Notes
MARKETING TIPS
Buy "AAA" Brand of fermented black bean that contains ground ginger and salt. It is available at NTUC.
PREP TIPS
Make sure you remove the seeds and scrape off the pith of the bitter gourd to reduce the bitterness. The bitterness can only be reduced but cannot be removed completely.
Add salt to the bittergourd before washing to extract the bitterness from the bitter gourd and also to soften it.
Discard the juices from the bittergourd as it is really bitter. Make sure all the bitter juices are squeezed out from the bitter gourd and that you rinse it through many times, otherwise the dish will end up too salty.
Cut the beef perpendicular rather than parallel to the grain of the meat, otherwise the meat will be end up tough and rubbery.
COOKING TIPS
Do not add too much light sauce or oyster sauce as the black bean is already salty.
When frying the bittergourd, add a few slices of ginger to reduce the cooling property of the bittergourd.
When frying the black bean and garlic, the fire must be low or it will get burnt easily.
Do not overcook the beef or it will be hard and chewy.