Apr 03

How to cook... Boiled Stuffed Bitter Gourd

By Richard Barrow Email

Friday 3rd April, 2009 | 249 words | Category: Enjoy Thai Food | 3 feedbacks »

This week we have another plain soup for you which isn't spicy. It is called Boiled Stuffed Bitter Gourd or "tun ma-ra yat sai" in Thai. I am not too fond of bitter gourds but it is apparently good for your health and is used a lot in natural medicines. I have to be honest and admit that we cheated a little today. I bought this as a pack at Tesco Lotus for 25 baht. Sometimes it is easier and cheaper as nothing is wasted. All you have to do is cook! In the picture of the ingredients below, you can see bitter gourds stuffed with a mixture of minced pork, mung bean noodles (wun-sen) and carrots. On the right there is carrots, stock cube and Chinese soup celery.

Wash the bitter gourd and then cut it into three inch sections. Remove the insides with a fork. Next prepare the pork mixture. Soak the wun sen in cold water. Mix this with the minced pork and chopped carrots and season with a little fish sauce. Stuff this inside the bitter gourds. Place them carefully in a pot and add some stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently until the bitter gourd is tender. Add the Chinese soup celery to the soup once you start simmering. Taste the stock and add more fish sauce if you like. Come back to www.thai-blogs.com next week for more cooking recipes. The archives can now be found at www.EnjoyThaiFood.com.

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Tags: thai cooking

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Comment from: Kelvin
*****
Hi Richard,
Yes this soup is excellent to just go with plain white rice...
very soothing when one is have sore throat and no appetite...
You can try substituting the stuffed pork with grinded fish meat paste...
03/04/2009 @ 16:34
Comment from: michael · http://blog-thailand.de
*****
great blog

04/04/2009 @ 01:54
Comment from: Suzie
****-
This is the trick that I've heard from my aunt-the stuffed bitter melons won't taste bitter if you cook them in boiling water. Do not put the lid on. Cook the melon for one hour. Do not stir.
04/04/2009 @ 03:23

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