Bitter melons may resemble cucumbers and may be called melons, but they are neither. Certainly, these long green fruits are bitter. Despite that, one bite soon leads to another: I find myself chewing a piece of salted bitter melon and thinking, “Gosh, this is bitter!” before swallowing and reaching for more. If you have South, Southeast, or East Asian heritage, this will not surprise you. Bitter melon, also called bitter gourd in English and known by dozens of common names worldwide, is probably native to what is now Malaysia and is a valued functional food in food and medicine homologies like Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda.
For most eaters in the US, this fruit-as-vegetable can be sourced at Chinese, Japanese, and Indian groceries and at some farmers’ markets. But if you have a trellis or a fence to support them, skip the carbon footprint and grow these intriguing and healthy fruits at home.
Photography by Marie Viljoen.
Different species of bitter melon grow in tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa. In the Southeastern states of the US, the vines have escaped cultivation and become invasive. The commonly eaten species, whether smoother or knobbly, is Momordia charantia, botanically; its cucumber-like fruit is eaten unripe and tender, as a green vegetable.
Warty-skinned fruits with tapered ends are often referred to as Indian bitter melon, and in Japan they are known as goya—they are slightly less juicy, but arguably more flavorful than their smoother, longer Chinese counterpart.
As a food, bitter melon is used widely and valued precisely for its bitterness, which is a cornerstone flavor in Asian cuisines. It is associated with a host of traditional dishes in different food cultures. The de-seeded gourds may be added to soup, stuffed with vegetables or meats, simmered and stewed, sliced and sautéed, soaked and pickled, curried and roasted; or they may be cooked whole if still tiny.
