Pinakbet
When I first started this blog, I vowed that I was going to write about the failures as well as the successes. I've been lucky. There have been some recipes that I would tweak here and there to improve them, but I haven't had any out and out failures--recipes that I just couldn't recommend. Until now.
Which is sad because I'd been thinking of making Pinakbet, a vegetable stew from the Philippines, for weeks. I'd found the recipe when I'd bought okra, fresh lima beans, and eggplant and searched all my cookbooks for a recipe that used all three. The only trouble was that the characteristic flavor of Pinakbet came from the one ingredient I didn't have, bitter melon. So I decided that the recipe wasn't worth making if I didn't have the main ingredient, and I set it aside.
Then this weekend, I saw bitter melons at the Mississippi Farmer's Market. I never would have guessed that anyone was growing them here, but there they were, along with long beans (for which I've always had to substitute regular green beans) and Japanese eggplants. I was so happy to see the bitter melons that I bought four, forgetting that the recipe called for only half of one.
Bitter melon with Japanese and white eggplants and long beans
So I used one of the small bitter melons, some of the long beans, and all of the Japanese eggplant and made Pinakbet last night. I followed the recipe in Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking almost exactly--I left out the oil, of course, and used a little more eggplant just because I didn't want to have one lone eggplant left over. Then we sat down to eat it and . . . yuck! Even though the bitter melon makes up only a small part of the dish, the taste is overwhelming. I couldn't taste the garlic or the ginger, only the bitterness. I forced myself to take a second and then a third bite, and I have to admit it got more tolerable as I ate it. I was actually able to eat most of the bowl, though I didn't eat the bitter melon itself. I felt I had to make the effort because I just didn't want to waste all the lovely eggplant, fresh tomatoes, and other vegetables that I'd put into this stew.
My daughter gave up after one bite, and my husband managed to choke down maybe half a bowl. The rest, I'm afraid to say, is going into the compost pile. I'll bet bitter melons are good for the soil!
I'll give you the recipe, but be sure to take a look at the suggestions for cooking bitter melon in the comments below. I'm sure that it was my cooking that was to blame for this failed meal, so please don't make the mistakes I did!
Pinakbet
3 oz. bitter melon (seeds removed and cut into 1/2-inch by 2-inch strips, then salted, set aside for 20 minutes, and rinsed)
1 lb. long eggplants, cut into 2-inch sections
salt
10 whole okra, trimmed
5 oz. long beans, trimmed, cut into 3-inch lengths
5 quarter-sized pieces ginger
3 cloves garlic, slivered
1 med. onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs. ripe tomatoes, chopped
4 tsp. Japanese soy sauce
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen Lima beans
Brown the ginger, garlic, and onion. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. Add two cups of water and the remaining ingredients. Simmer vigorously for 20 minutes, stirring often. It's done when the liquid is thick and the vegetables are tender. Add salt if necessary, remove the ginger, and serve. Good luck!
Oh, here's a coincidence: check out what's over at Albion Cooks!
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free Eat to Live
Labels: eat to live, gluten-free
posted by SusanV at 10:40 AM
35 Comments:
This is actually one of my favorite dishes and so seeing your verdict was heartbreaking. (exaggerating!)
Maybe I'd blog about it once we get bitter melons from my FIL's garden. I actually won't pay for this vegetable, which they have at Asian or farmers markets! We normally make it without the bitter melon, since both dh and I aren't too crazy for that.
Bitter melon is quite tricky, and if not washed properly would turn out...well, that way, as you know from experience.
The inside has to scraped with a spoon until there's none of that white stuff. Once sliced or cut, they have to be rubbed thoroughly (and patiently) with salt and then washed a few times.
And yes, half would be enough.
I was reading MJ's Pinakbet recipe a while back and was wondering if she really cooks with bitter melons...
Kaivegan
-whose mission now is to put pinakbet in its rightful place
(my tummy?)
Hey Kaivegan, I'm so glad you wrote! I'm sure this would be excellent without the bitter melon, or maybe with just a little so that I could get used to it. Also, I scraped out all of the seeds but not all of the white part, so that is good to know.
Any advice on what I can do with the other 3 I bought? :-)
Uh... maybe toss them?
Kidding aside, I couldn't come up with anything! I would't suggest something I myself have no fun eating!
My in-laws make bitter melon salads. They put vinegar and sugar to these babies sliced very thinly. Or they would sautee them, again sliced thinly, with garlic, onion and tomatoes. They even cook with the leaves.
Goodness, I didn't even realize how long my previous comment was!
Hi Susan,
I like all vegetables but that one: bitter melon. I have tried to like it but just couldn't. I haven't tried cooking it but had tried several dishes made by someone else.
My husband doesn't like it either. There are not that many people who I know like it. So don't feel bad.
It is like durian, it is an acquired taste and you have to grow up with it, I think.
SIV
Pinakbet is one of my grandmother's favorite dishes-- I haven't eaten it in awhile because of the meat. As far as bittermelon goes, my grandmother also uses it in a vegetable broth soup-- she just prepares the bittermelon like kaivegan suggests, thinly slices it and floats it in the top of the broth, letting it simmer to cook the bittermelon. Growing up, this was one of my favorite comfort foods.
Oh, this is so sad. I really hate it when you have all these really great ingredients that you put together and then your recipe turns out to be not that great. I remember making this stir fry one time with all these glorious vegetables and the recipe was just so bad. It was such a shame to see all those vegetables wrecked.
LOL! I'm glad I chickened out of mine. Your bitter melon is very bumpy compared to mine. For those other three, just leave them be and they turn a lovely orange. They fun to photograph!
Eew.
Would it help if I said that Friday's recipe was fabulous? I mean really, really fabulous.
I mentioned this bitter lemon to my Philipino friend and here's her response: "... there are bitter melons that are really bitter. choose the ones that have long spaces between the curves." She promised to make this recipe for me soon, so I'll let you know whether the longs spaces make them more appealing to those of us that didn't grow up eating them.
In my family, pinakbet is traditionally cooked with anchovies or tiny shrimps. I just can't imagine eating pinakbet without that essential ingredient, but then I don't know what would stand as a substitute for anchovies in a vegan diet. Maybe a little more salt, or whatever vegan substitute that would bring in that salty quality, I think.
What a pity! An A for effort, though...
I haven't had bitter melon before. Sorry you didn't like the dish. It's tough when you look all over for an ingredient and then can't even eat what you made.
We have so many dishes made with bitter melon. its called karela in hindi. you can visit these blogs for the recipes and other indian blogs
http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/category/indian-vegetables/bitter-gourd/
http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2006/06/30/bittergourd-sidedishkarathe-sukke/
Tanuja
Bitter melon is definitely an acquired taste. Growing up in an Asian family, there is no escaping it, and so I am now a convert. There are two types of bitter melons I know of. One is the green variety you have, and the other is a white variety. The white variety is less bitter, and are often used for stews, soups, and stir frys. Its texture is spongier, and therefore soaks up flavors better.
The green variety has a raw pungentness to it. Like kaivegan said, scraping clean the white lining tones down the bitterness. In addition, I always find blenching it briefly in boiling water helps to take out the raw and bitter taste.
My favorite dish to make with the green variety is with chinese black bean paste:
1) Cut melon down the middle length-wise, scrape out the inner part until you see green, and slice them into very thin half-circle slices.
2) Boil some water and drop them into the boiling water for no more than 30 seconds as not to lose the crispness.
3) Add them to a hot wok with some garlic and scallion, with or without oil.
4) Add black bean paste shortly after, some water, and let it simmer till the flavor of the black bean paste has been obsorbed
by the melon.
This dish taste best when chilled. Great for a hot summer evening. Let me know how it turn out if you decide to try it.
You are all such a wealth of information! Thank you so much, particularly for the ideas on what to do with the remaining bitter melons. I feel like I should have asked you all about them first; I might have been able to save a lot of good veggies from the compost pile!
Whenever my daughter finds something she really loves, she declares it "The Best ___ Ever!" You, my friends, are The Best Readers Ever!
Tocompensate for the bitterness, maybe you could go all fusion on us, and serve it with a sweet dish, like plantains or a chutney, if you make it again? It looks gorgeous!
Wow, this is all so interesting! I've enjoyed reading all the advice and comments about a vegetable I know nothing about. As to whether I'd actually attempt to cook with it-- doubtful, after your experience! My adventurous hubby would love to try it, though!
I got one last piece of advice from my philippino friend - you must make sure to smile when preparing bitter lemon :-)
Blechhhh. I really, really hate bitter melon. I am not a picky eater, and grew up on Chinese food thanks to my Chinese mother, but some things I just can't take. Mostly strange meat products that I won't mention here so as to spare the delicate vegan constitution, but also bitter melon.
Oh well, it was worth a try! What will you do with the extra melons??
Helen
Hey Susan,
This was an interesting read. Funnily, we call this one Bitter gourd, and there are tons of indian recipes containing it. It's excellent for blood sugar regulation in diabetics. I have never seen such white eggplants though- look like huge eggs with a crown :D
Forgot to add one more thing, my MIL dunks sliced bittergourds in sour buttermilk overnight and uses it in curries the next morning, most of the bitterness vanishes this way!
hyI don't like bitter melon myself. But as I was reading your recipe, it said to stir all the vegetables. The less you touch the bitter melon, the less the bitterness comes out. Plus you really have to salt and rince the cut bittermelon quite a few times to remove the bitterness.
I came across your blog while googling for pinokbet recipes, and I have to say the taste for pinokbet with ampalaya (bitter melon) may be aquired. I am not a Filipina, and I like the bitter melon in pinakbet. (Wasn't so crazy about ampalaya and mung beans, however.) I also like jackfruit (kin to durian), so perhaps you don't necessarily have to grow up with these foods.
DH and I were stationed in the Philippines over three years - our housegirl used to make this dish for us (with LOTS of ampalaya), sometimes with meat, and frequently without. I absolutely loved it, provided she didn't add the baguong or patis to the hot pan inside my house. (Either one added to a hot pan emits .... noxious fumes - - is about the most polite way I can describe the odor.) Sometimes she would add cut, peeled sweet potato early in the stewing process, too.
I was asked to make Filipino foods for a missionary supper at church Saturday night, and pinokbet is one of the dishes I will be bringing. Thank you everybody for posting how to take some of the bitterness out of the ampalaya. I am sure the folks at church will appreciate it, too.
Now looking for fresh yard-long beans in south Mississippi in late October....
Hi Susan,
Happy new year!!! I am a newly converted vegetarian and I found your website outstanding. I am Fred from the Philippines and Pinakbet is a very popular dish here. Yes, a Pinakbet is not a Pinakbet without the bitter-melon. My mother cook it very well and she uses the rounded and small bitter melons in order to reduce the bitter taste. However there is a secret ingredient: BAGOONG. It is either made from small fish or shrimps. However, maybe you could find out its vegetarian counterpart. Good luck to your family this 2007!!!
Respectfully,
Fred, Manila, Philippines
FYI, d in dixie: Ampalaya is what we call bitter-melon here in the Philippines.
To susanv: Quite a shame that you don't appreciate the taste, but I would be kidding myself if I told you EVERYONE in the Philippines likes it. It's really an acquired taste. And I think I read somewhere that the more bitter the melon, the better it is for consumption if you have or are susceptible to diabetes.
Hello Susan,
I am very amused that you like pinakbet, and you have actually tried to cook it. The picture of the cooked pinakbet looks very authentic and yummy. However, the picture of the veggies before you cooked them caused an alarm in me. The bitter melon in the picture looks very very bitter. The very bitter bitter melons are dark green in color, and the skin is very rough, like in the picture. Get the ones that are pale green and have smoother skin. I grew up eating pinakbet several times a week. You could say I should be accustomed to the bitterness of the melon. But I cringed looking at the picture of the bitter melon in your blog.
The basic ingredients of pinakbet are: bitter melon, eggplant, and tomatoes. These are the 3 vegetables that make a recipe a pinakbet. All the other veggies, like okra, squash, and string beans are optional.
I never saute any of the ingredients. Except for shreds of pork which I cook beforehand to squeeze out the oil. I put back a little of the oil for flavor.
If you are a vegetarian, you don't have to add pork.
Place the eggplant and bitter melon on the bottom of the pot. One cup of water or less will do. Add the spices, onions, garlic, ginger, etc. Bring to a boil. Then bring down the heat to simmer at medium low. Add the tomatoes (and pork) when you lower the heat. If you have other veggies, add the squash and string beans. I add the okra last. The okra cooks in less than 5 minutes of steam.
(I include the inside of the bitter melon. I only remove the seeds if they are very mature or hard. Otherwise, everything goes in the pot.)
The trick is to cook the veggies in low heat with minimum of water, and let it cook from the juices coming out of the veggies.
On a side note, there was an article I read about lowering cholesterol and about eating healthy. When I looked at the ingredients, I could swear I was reading pinakbet without the recipe. I thought if I cook these ingredients together, I have a pinakbet.
I'm a honky, but I've found an easier alternative to repeated salting and rinsing. I `wave some water with salt to dissolve, ice it down into a brine, scrape the witches' teat/bitter melon, slice it thin into the brine and then let it sit in the fridge until I need it. Before you use it, you may either rinse the brine off, or not salt your recipe so aggressively.
actually, you could try to put the sliced bitter melon in a bowl and sprinkle it generously with salt. after 3mins or so, squeeze them to drain out the water. this actually takes out much of the bitterness. it works for me. some would put a little vinegar also. goodluck on the next attemp.
i am a filipino and i love pinakbet (or pakbet in short word) very much.
this recipe is a very simple that you can cook it in less than 15 minutes including preparation of the ingredients.
one thing you must add is green pepper to make it spicy. spicy will make it taste better.
i suggest you should also try "ampalaya con carne".
this recipe compose mostly bitter melon and beef.
but before you cook it, please get the right bitter melon which are pale green and smoother skin then follow the advice of others on how to prepare it to lessen the bitter taste.
best regards
bolero
Hi there Susan! I'm from the Philippines and reading the first few sentences of this post really made me smile because of the thought that someone other than a Filipino admired this hearty dish but going down to your verdict really was heart crumbling. I think you should be more sensitive and politically correct in using certain words in your post. The word "Yuck!" really struck me. Say it's true, I can't dictate your taste buds but I think you could do better than that. And my dearest SusanV have u even considered a fault in your part? Maybe u didn't scooped out the bitter part of that bitter melon or u did not know the right ways of washing the bitter melon to lessen the bitter taste. Indeed, it was a failure this time, honey. Not because of the recipe or the ingredients, but because of you. I won't wonder if u will delete this comment right away. Come here in the Philippines and eat an authentic pinakbet and I'm sure you will be on cloud 9 in your first bite. Good luck in your next attempt and have a nice day! ^^
To appreciate bitter melons, one has to acquire the taste. I never appreciated the taste until I was in my late 20s. I love pinakbet (the vegan version). Cheers!
Hi there...you're right, the way you cooked it was wrong...that's not just the way to cook it...
Growing up as children, me,my brothers and sister couldn't stand it. Then when there is nothing else to eat, after time you get used to it. It is a unique taste! One thing you forgot, however, you did right excluding the oil, you need to steam all in a sauce pan using a couple of table spoons of Fish Sauce or 'Tiparos'. Then, I don't know if vegans use Tiparos as a seasoning...
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