Kho qua deo kho chay suits a light rice meal. The small bitter melons are gently bitter and take on a salty sweet edge in the pan. The difficulty is that a braise pushed too far leaves them limp with no bite left.
The melons are fried to a light gold first, tossed with salt for about 10 minutes, then simmered with soy sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce. Only then does the coconut water go in, just to the level of the melons. The coconut water draws in slowly as the sauce reduces to a syrupy glaze.
This batch weighs about 1.1kg, at roughly 20 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash the baby bitter melons and fry them until light gold.
Set a pan over the heat, warm the oil until fragrant, add the fried bitter melon and toss it with 1 teaspoon salt for about 10 minutes.
Add 3 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce, simmer for 3 minutes, then pour in fresh coconut water to the level of the melons and season with 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend.
Keep the heat very low and braise until the sauce turns syrupy.
Tips
Fresh coconut water is already sweet, so taste the pan after seasoning before braising further.
Using plain water in place of coconut water calls for double the kOBE Monk Fruit Blend to keep the balance.
Stop frying the bitter melons at light gold, since any longer dries them out.
A very low simmer lets the liquid draw in slowly, since high heat reduces the pan before the melons have taken up any flavor.
Braise the baby bitter melons whole, since halving them spills the pith and turns the liquid bitter.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.