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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
15 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Bitter Melon Salad For 4 people
Bitter melon 2 kg Carrot 1/2 kg Kumquat 14 fruits Onion 1 bulb Shallot 50 gr Garlic 2 cloves Chili 4 fruits Peanuts 50 gr Fried tofu skin 2 pieces Vietnamese coriander/basil a little Coconut water 1/2 cup (rice bowl) Sugar/salt a little
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh carrots
- Choose carrots that are deep orange in color, smooth skin, and small ends.
- Good carrots will have fresh green leaves, feel firm when gently squeezed, not bruised, and feel solid in hand.
- It is advisable to buy medium-sized or small carrots to ensure crispness and sweetness when cooking.
- Avoid choosing overly large carrots as they are usually old, lack sweetness, and are not tasty.
- Avoid buying carrots with black spots, bruised, cracked, or with green ends.
See details: How to choose fresh carrots
What is bitter melon? Suggestions on where to buy bitter melon
- Bitter melon is also known as Japanese cucumber, with fruit resembling that of a cucumber. The skin of bitter melon is dark green, with some white stripes, and is hollow inside.
- Bitter melon has a very sweet, crunchy, and refreshing taste, and can be prepared in various delicious dishes such as stir-fried with meat, eaten raw, or mixed in salads.
- You can buy bitter melon at grocery stores, markets, and supermarkets, all of which sell it.
How to prepare bitter melon salad
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Prepare the ingredients
After purchasing, peel the bitter melon, remove the seeds, then wash it clean, cut it into thin strips, and drain the bitter melon.
Tip: To clean the sap in the bitter melon, after peeling, soak the bitter melon in a little diluted salt water for about 5 – 10 minutes, then rinse with water and drain.
Peel the carrot, wash it clean, and then shred or slice it thinly. Add a little salt to the carrot, mix well, and let it sit for about 5 minutes. After that, rinse with water and drain.
Onion, shallots, and garlic should be peeled, sliced thinly, and kept separate for the two types of onion. Minced garlic and chili should be kept separate for each ingredient.
Fry half of the shallots until fragrant, keeping the rest for the salad.
Pick fresh leaves of Vietnamese coriander and basil, discard any bad leaves, wash them clean, drain, and then chop them finely.
Roast peanuts until golden, then shell them. Squeeze the dried tofu until slightly crumbled.
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Mix the dressing and vegetarian fish sauce
The dressing for the salad will include: the juice of 12 calamondin oranges, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, stirred well to dissolve the ingredients together, then add about 1/2 tablespoon of sliced shallots and onions.
For the vegetarian fish sauce, add to a bowl 1/2 cup of fresh coconut water (rice bowl), 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (or white sugar), 1 tablespoon of calamondin juice (about 2 fruits), minced garlic, and 1/2 of the minced chili, and stir well.
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Mixing the salad
Prepare a large bowl, add the bitter melon, prepared carrots, fried shallots, Vietnamese coriander, chopped basil leaves, onions, and all the remaining sliced shallots, roasted peanuts, fried tofu skin, and minced chili, then mix well.
Slowly add the lime juice, continuing to mix until the sauce coats all the ingredients evenly. Adjust the seasoning to taste to finish.
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Final product
The bitter melon salad is delicious, vibrant with beautiful green, red, and yellow colors. The bitter melon and carrots are crunchy and sweet, fresh, soaking up the flavors of sour, salty, sweet, and spicy.
Add crispy peanuts and tofu skin. Grab a delicious piece of salad, dip it into the flavorful vegetarian fish sauce, truly irresistible.
See more:
Above is a detailed guide on how to make western bitter melon salad to cool the body, deliciously appealing. We hope that the cooking suggestions we shared, which are both tasty and simple, will be helpful for you. Wish you success in your cooking!
