peace in my pans: Stuffed Bitter Melon Soup

If you've never had bitter melon before, let me reassure that it is bitter and is an acquired taste. When I was a kid, I couldn't fathom how anyone would find this tasty and enjoy eating it. The Vietnamese name for this gourd literally mean suffering. However, Asians just believe that anything bitter, tastes like crap, etc. is good for you. Asians believe that bitter melon is good for your chi - improving blood flow, etc. But as I got older, I began to enjoy this dish a lot more and yes, at times, think that my body needs it to balance out my chi. Like today, I have not been feeling well and home resting. I am waiting for some test results to come back and maybe then know what the heck is wrong with me. For now, I load up on bitter melon soup.

Broth:
I used pork bone broth that I made some time ago and froze but feel free to just use plain water. The stuffed bitter melon when cooked will create a nice broth on its own.

Filling:
Ground pork, ground shrimp, wood ear mushrooms, rice vermicelli noodles, scallions, and an egg. Seasoning includes fish sauce, sugar, and a little salt. The filling is always about meat to everything else ratio - if you like a really dense filling then add less of everything else, etc.

In a large pot, cook your broth. If you use water then add your water and allow it to cook on fairly low heat (between 3-4). Your goal is clear broth and high heat makes cloudy broth - no bueno.

Some of the ingredients that you'll need.

I used the "phoenix brand" but I'm convinced that the red label is synonymous with rice vermicelli that all other brands use a red label - it's really hard to know which one is the one you used last anymore.

Cook the vermicelli according to the package's instruction.

With a pair of scissors, cut the noodles until there're all in 1 inch pieces.

I was lazy and since I don't own a food processor, I decided to improvise, again. I could have easily chopped the wood ear mushrooms and scallions but I decided to throw it into a blender to see what would happen. Well, this happened. It's not bad or anything - it's just a lot more fine than I would want it.

Peel and gut your shrimp. Man, this is the FIRST time I've ever used shrimp on this blog and now I know why. They're super high maintenance.

I found it easiest to cut it in half with my pairing knife for efficient cleaning.

WHOA. This took a while but now they're all nice and clean.

It took a lot of work so I really just wanna' admire it a bit more before it goes on the chopping block.

With a cleaver, chop it until it turns into a paste like substance. See?

Throw everything into a large mixing bowl. Add some fish sauce, sugar, and salt.

Add an egg. With your hands, combine everything.

You should have a small plate filled with fish sauce. I'll explain why later but it's necessary to the success of your dish.

Cut your bitter melons into halves.

With a pairing knife, begin to gut it. Is that right? Well, you get what I mean. Just be careful not to cut yourself or cut through the melon. Take your time.

Oh yeah! 1/2 down and many more to go...

Such a proud moment. I also ran water through them.

Now, begin stuffing. I found the ends of the fork and spreader helped a lot.

It's okay if it's not stuffed all the way to the end - get as close as you can.

The fatter half was much easier to stuff.

Once you're done stuffing, dip each end of the melon in the bowl of fish sauce just like this. Press hard down on the plate. I was told that this was the secret to making sure the filling stays in the melon and doesn't fall out while cooking. I don't know if that's true or not but instead of taking the risk, I do this each time I make this dish.

Flip it around and do the same to the other end.

At this point, your pot should be nice and hot but not rolling boiling. Place your stuffed bitter melon inside the pot and be careful not to burn yourself. I needed to do some broth cleaning, obviously.