Bitter Melon, A Chinese Medicinal Plant

Other Common Names: Ampalaya, Balsam pear, Bitter cucumber, Bitter gourd, Foo gwa, Karela, La-kwa, Momordica charantia L.

Range: China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan.

Ampalaya (Tagalog) or Amargozo (Aklanon). Known in the west as Chinese bitter melon or bitter gourd, ampalaya became popular in the news recently because of its putative medicinal value especially against HIV/AIDS (Compound Q). The truth is, it is considered medicinal by many native herbolarios. In folk medicine, the more bitter this vegetable is, the more medicinal value it has. It's really an ugly looking vegetable and considered an acquired taste because of its bitterness. The smaller (or more elongate) and greener variety is more bitter than the larger (or plumper) pale green ones that are usually found in Asian-American markets.

Momordica charantia is a plant used for centuries in traditional Indian, Chinese, and African pharmacopeia as laxative, anthelminthic and abortive. Fruit is useful in gout, rheumatism and sub-acute cases of the spleen and liver. Doctors in India are so confident of bitter melon's positive effect on diabetics, they dispense bitter melon in some of the most modern hospital.

Try it as an omelet or as a salad (with onions, tomatoes, and cilantro in vinaigrette dressing) in between courses to clean your palate. As a main dish, ampalaya con carne with black bean sauce is also wonderful - the saltiness of the black beans counteracts the bitterness - and pinakbet (a melange of tropical vegetables like squash, eggplant, string beans and amplaya in piquant shrimp paste sauce) is heavenly. The young leaves (ampalaya tops) are also used in dishes like ginisang monggo.

A medium-size bitter melon has only about 20 calories and contains potassium, folate and vitamin C.

Here's a tip: to remove the bitterness, roll sliced ampalaya pieces in salt; the juice will start to flow; squeeze the juices some more.