How to Cook Stuffed Bottle Gourd Soup with Vegetarian Meat for a More Diverse Vegetarian Meal

How to make Stuffed Bitter Melon Soup with Vegetarian Meat

• 1

  Prepare the ingredients

  Oyster mushrooms and straw mushrooms should be washed clean, cut off the roots, and soaked in diluted salt water or diluted vinegar for 10 minutes, then rinsed with clean water to remove the odor.

  Cut the large straw mushrooms in half, and keep the small ones whole.

  Peel and wash the bitter melon.

  Chop the green onions.

  

  
• 2

  Make the stuffing

  Shred the vegetarian ribs and put them into a mortar to pound finely. Alternatively, you can shred them and put them in a blender to grind them finely.

  Shred the oyster mushrooms into the mortar and pound them together with the vegetarian ribs.

  Next, add 1/2 teaspoon of vegetarian seasoning, 1 teaspoon of ground pepper, 1/2 of the chopped green onions, and 2/3 tablespoon of tapioca flour to the mixture and mix well.

  Place a pan on the stove, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, and sauté the remaining green onions until fragrant. Then add the mixture of vegetarian ribs and oyster mushrooms, stir-frying over medium heat until the mixture becomes dry.

  After frying for about 20 minutes, add the chopped cilantro and mix well, then turn off the heat.

  Note:

  • Do not soak the vegetarian ribs for too long, as they will become mushy and lose their firmness, making them less tasty.
  • If you like to eat fiber mushrooms, just shred them and mix them with the vegetarian ribs.
  • The stuffing mixture must be dry; this way, when cooking the soup, the stuffing will be firmer and tastier.

  

  

  

  
• 3

  Stuff the vegetarian meat

  The bitter gourd is cut into thick slices of about 3cm. You remove the insides from each slice of bitter gourd, then take a sufficient amount of filling to stuff inside. Press the filling firmly so that it will be chewy and tasty when simmered.

  Use the remaining tapioca flour to evenly coat both sides of the filling. The tapioca flour helps the filling stick better when simmered. Continue to stuff until all the ingredients are used up.

  

  

  

  
• 4

  Cook the soup

  Add 600ml of water to the pot along with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of vegetarian seasoning, stir well.

  Bring the water to a boil and then add the gourd, cooking on low heat for about 10 – 15 minutes, then add the straw mushrooms and cook for an additional 2 minutes, finally chop the cilantro and stir well, turn off the heat.

  

  

  

  
• 5

  Final product

  The vegetarian stuffed gourd has a soft, fragrant outer layer with a delicious chewy filling, and the soup is very light and sweet.

  You can scoop the soup into a bowl and enjoy!