Ginisang Ampalaya is a Filipino stir-fried bitter melon with an egg that is mixed with onion, garlic, and scrambled egg. It is a popular vegetable side dish in the Philippines which is perfect to eat with white rice.

When I was a kid, I was so ignorant about Bitter Melon and I tend to avoid eating it. That is because I find it bitter which made me lose my appetite. However, as time goes by, I started to enjoy eating this dish.

It became one of my favorite vegetarian dishes since it is delicious and nutritious. It is a very healthy dish since it can help reduce blood sugar in people with diabetes type II. Furthermore, it is one of the best vegetables to help you lose weight since it contains only 20 calories per cup.

My mother taught me a technique on how to make Ginisang Ampalaya less bitter yet very tasty. This vegetable is popular in Indian and in Southeast Asian cuisines, which they call it Bitter Gourd or Bitter Melon. But, in this post, I am cooking a Pinoy version of Stir-fried Bitter Melon with Egg

Recipe Ingredients

Making Ginisang Ampalaya is very easy and straight forward, which you only need 4 important ingredients: Onion, Garlic, Bitter Melon and Egg.

Lastly, I added salt and sugar when I am beating the eggs. It will help season the ampalaya or bitter melon as what others call it. That way, you don't need to add salt when you are almost done cooking.

How is the Bitter Melon Prepared?

First of all, you will have to remove all the seeds in the bitter melon. That is because we don't eat the seeds, and of course, they are very bitter. As you can see in the picture below on the left side, I remove the entire seeds including the white stuff.

Once you remove the seeds, sliced them into small pieces, and soaked it in the water. It must be soaked for 1 to 1.5 hours. It is because soaking with water can help remove the bitterness of the bitter gourd. It is useful for those who do not like eating bitter food.

Lastly, while it is soaked in water, I added 1 teaspoon of salt directly to the bitter melon. It helps further reduce the bitterness of those vegetables. If you don't like to soak the vegetable in the water, another option is washing the bitter gourd with salt and leave it there for 15 to 30 minutes. It will help remove the bitterness without soaking in the water.

What do you serve this dish with?

In the Philippines, when we cook Ginisang Ampalaya, we serve with other Filipino dishes and white rice, which is rare to eat this alone. As a half Filipino, it is a must to eat Ampalaya dish with white rice, and serve other meat or seafood dishes.

In my experience, here are other delicious Filipino foods that I paired with this vegetarian recipe:

• Baked Bangus
• Beef Bola Bola
• Chicken Pancit Canton
• Beef Lumpia

Cooking Instruction

Cooking Ginisang Ampalaya with Egg is one of the easiest vegetarian side dishes in the Philippines.

Firstly, add vegetable oil to the pan. Once it becomes hot, add onion and garlic. Stir for few minutes or till it looks cooked. Next, add bitter melon and give a quick stir. Let it cook in low heat for 3 minutes.

Lastly, add the beating egg to the frying pan and stir like as if you are making a scrambled egg. Serve with white rice before serving.

To know the full detail of the recipe, here is the instruction below:

If you have any comments or questions, I will love to hear from you.

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