What it is
Stuffed bitter melon (苦瓜封) is a soup of bitter melon (苦瓜) cut into thick rings and filled with minced pork. Taiwan's main varieties are mild, with large, prominent bumps; the Ryukyu (Okinawan) type is far more bitter. 封 (fēng) means 'to seal', and in Hakka cooking the word also names dishes slow-braised in a closed pot until very soft. Vietnam and Thailand have similar stuffed bitter melon soups.
How it is made
The melon is cut into rings about 5 cm deep, and the seeds and white pith are scooped out, which takes away much of the bitterness. Minced pork is seasoned with salt and rice wine, then mixed with chopped water chestnut, shiitake and sometimes dried tofu or carrot, and bound with starch. The filling is pressed into each ring. The rings are then steamed or simmered in stock; some cooks fry them briefly first to set the filling.
How to eat it
Some braised pork rice shops sell it as a side soup, where its clean taste offsets the rich rice. Bitter melon is a summer vegetable, and many people eat it in hot weather to 'clear heat' (退火), an idea from Chinese medicine. Order it as 苦瓜封湯.
Around Taiwan
- Kaohsiung
- Nan Feng Braised Pork Rice (南豐魯肉飯), in Lingya's Ziqiang night market for more than 60 years, serves a stuffed bitter melon soup alongside its braised pork rice, lion's-head meatballs and braised cabbage.
