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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
20 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Cool down your body with the dish of stuffed bitter melon with soft, delicious snakehead fish, with the sweetness of the fish cake, you no longer have to worry about the bitter melon being too bitter. Let’s get cooking this soup to treat your family!
Ingredients for Stuffed Bitter Melon with Snakehead Fish For 4 people
Bitter melon 15 pieces Snakehead fish cake 300 gr Green onions A little (chopped) Cooking oil A little Fish sauce 1.5 tablespoons Common spices A little (salt/ pepper/ monosodium glutamate/ seasoning powder/ sugar)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose delicious wild bitter melon
- Wild bitter melon is smaller in size compared to other types of regular bitter melon.
- To choose tasty wild bitter melon, select fruits of moderate size, not too small because they will be bitter and astringent. You should choose fruits with many tiny spikes and a dark green skin.
- Avoid selecting bitter melons that are too large, bright green, with shiny skin as they may contain growth stimulants.
How to choose fresh fish cake (thác lác)
- To buy good thác lác fish cake, you should choose fish meat that has not been grated or processed and ask the seller to process it for you or take it home to make yourself. Fresh thác lác fish meat is usually translucent, white interspersed with light pink, with red streaks of blood vessels.
- When grated, the fish should look beautiful, not dull or pale. Good fish meat usually has elasticity; when lifted, it should feel firm and not fall apart.
- Fresh thác lác fish has a natural smell of river water, avoid buying fish that smells fishy, rancid, or has an unusual odor.
- If buying pre-made fish cake, choose those that are bright pink, chewy, and smooth. Do not select pieces that are crumbly, have liquid inside, or have a foul smell.
-800x450.jpg "How to Cook Bitter Melon Soup Stuffed with Delicious and Refreshing Fish for the Whole Family 2")
How to prepare Wild Bitter Melon Soup stuffed with Thác Lác Fish
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Prepare the bitter melon
After purchasing the bitter melon, rinse it briefly with water once, then use a knife to slice it lengthwise down the middle, scoop out all the pulp and seeds with a spoon.
Next, boil a pot of water with 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, then blanch the bitter melon in it for 30 seconds before removing and rinsing with cold water.
Tips to reduce the bitterness of bitter melon: You can use salt to rub the hollowed-out bitter melon evenly until the water inside is released, then rinse with clean water and blanch in boiling water. This way, the bitter melon will be less bitter.
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Marinate and stuff the fish
Next, you put 300g of fish into a large bowl and add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, 1 tablespoon of seasoning, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and a little chopped green onion.
Then you use a spoon to mix the fish so that it absorbs the spices evenly, then knead it well until the fish is firm, smooth, and sticky together into a mass, and feels heavy in your hand when kneading.
After stuffing the fish, you take a reasonable amount of fish to stuff into each bitter melon, using a spoon to pack tightly and flatten the fish filling inside the bitter melon, avoiding too much overflow.
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Cooking the Soup
You boil a pot of water, then add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and put all the bitter melon stuffed with snakehead fish into simmer over medium heat. Boil for about 5 minutes, when the soup is boiling vigorously, season with 1/2 tablespoon of seasoning powder, 1/2 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and 1.5 tablespoons of fish sauce.
Continue to simmer over medium heat for about 7 – 10 minutes, when the bitter melon is soft and slightly turns a dull green, add a little chopped green onion and some pepper, then turn off the heat and ladle the soup into a bowl.
Note: Because the bitter melon cooks quickly, you should not cook the soup for too long as the bitter melon will become mushy and more bitter, making it less tasty when eaten.
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Finished Product
The bitter melon soup stuffed with snakehead fish is ladled into a hot bowl, delicious and fragrant. With the chewy and sweet fish cake filling that balances the bitterness of the bitter melon, along with the clear and refreshing broth will change your mind about fearing to eat bitter melon.
To enhance the flavor, you can dip the bitter melon in chili fish sauce and enjoy it with hot rice.
See more
With a very simple recipe, easily found ingredients, and wonderful flavor, there is no reason for you not to try making this bitter melon soup stuffed with fish paste today to make your meal more appealing. Wishing you success in your preparation.
*Refer to the recipe and images from the YouTube channel Cooky TV
