My Special Sauteed Bitter Melon (Bitter Gourd) with Egg and Leftover Chicken Adobo

These past few months, cooking has become my role in the house. It's not like I'm complaining, but thinking of what dish to cook is always the hardest part of that role. If it's just me who will eat, I can just eat anything, except poop - err I can cook whatever. But no, and you know what makes it harder? I have to come up with a dish that is allowed for my oldies to eat.

Actually, she can also eat anything, she's not a picky eater either, but there are just some foods that are not allowed for her knees, especially after eating them. It will cause her this unbearable pain in her knees. And that's not good for her. So, thinking about what dish to cook is always the hardest. Sometimes the dish I have to cook has those missing ingredients, it is incomplete. But it can't be helped, it's for Mother anyway. I can just buy it outside if I really crave something that is not allowed to my mom.

But, there are also times that Mother indulges her cravings for food that has meat, eggplant, or tomatoes. But she ate them with moderation too - not too much, just enough to satiate her cravings.

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Anyhow, I'll be sharing another dish with you that my oldies enjoyed yesterday. I cooked it during lunch time, so we had it for lunch until dinner. It's called Ginisang Ampalaya, an incomplete version because I didn't put fresh tomato in it. It'll taste better if only we use that, but, tch, it's 🙅 for now.

I have here one big bitter gourd that I bought for 20 PHP, or $0.35. I cut it into half, then I cut it into pieces just like this, it was slanted. Well, you can cut them however you want. I'm used to this cut, so this is what I did. There's also a saying that you have to smile while cutting it to make it taste good and not bitter, haha. I mean, what's the connection between my ugly face and the dish that I'm about to cook? Right? So I didn't smile, lol.

In a bowl, I just put some water and a lot of salt. They say that this process will reduce our bitter gourds bitterness. I am not sure, I just follow what I know, lol. Mommy D taught me that. And on another side, I just prepared the leftover chicken adobo and shredded it using a fork just like this.

I cut the garlic and onions into this size, mince them or cut them into cubes, do what makes your heart happy. And here are the three medium eggs that I bought. We will use them all to make our sauteed ampalaya taste better and less bitter.

It's cooking time, y'all!

Prepare your pan, heat it, and put in cooking oil, whether used oil, olive oil, or massage oil. Use whatever oil you want, our choice. Put the garlic and onion together, by the way, I just put them together so that no one will get hurt about who to go first. Let's just sauté it until it goes brown.

Now let's put the shredded chicken adobo, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, chicken cube, salt, and pepper, and then stir it. And because our chicken adobo was already cooked, I just sauteed it for like 1 to 2 minutes. Then I add water. The size of the water depends on you. I really love the soupy version of this dish, so I put a lot of water in it.

Now, let it boil, and after that, put the bitter gourd in it. We just need to boil it for like 4 to 5 minutes. I hate overcooked versions of this, so we only need a few minutes to boil it.

While we're waiting, let's prepare our egg. In a bowl, put the three medium-sized eggs and beat them to pulp just until they can't fight and talk back anymore. Let's give it a good beating, yeah. After that, put a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper in it too and beat it.

After 4 to 5 minutes, I put the beaten egg in there and stir it to coat them all with egg, just like that. Here's another saying that I heard from Mom, we should not stir it too much because it will taste more bitter. I mean, why is there a saying like that? I'm not sure where she heard this, what's the connection? Lol. But I still stir it in the end because I want them well combined, the taste and everything. See that soup? Yum, I love that in my steamed white rice! Perfecto!

Now with my "inelegant" plating (≧▽≦).

Hope y'all like it! It's easy to make and it's a little healthier too. Good for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner, I mean, we ate it during that time, lol. Whether with Fried Rice, Steamed Rice or any rice, it's perfect. Have you already tried this dish before? If not, you should try it guys. Do it in your version and make it more delicious and elegant.

By the way, here's our kind of dessert after eating this for lunch. Fried Banana cooked with Brown Sugar. I put a pinch of salt in it so it's a a combination of sweet and salty. I fry it crispy in the outside, soft in the inside, it's delicious. Even the sprinkled sugar in it has it's own crispiness. Try this too guys. You'll surely love it too.

Happy Eating!