Chinese bitter melon salad with woodear mushrooms, red onions, and peanuts in a soy garlicky dressing. A crunchy, cooling dish for hot days—or any day! This bitter melon salad is simple in ingredients yet complex in flavors.
Bitter Melon
Also known as bitter gourd, bitter melon is called Kǔ Guā (苦瓜) in Mandarin Chinese and is a household ingredient in Asian cuisine. They are commonly eaten during hot summer months and in tropical areas, as they are considered a "cooling" food in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
As with many bitter foods, the bitter flavor can be an acquired taste. There's a Chinese saying: "Bitter-tasting things make good medicine" (Kǔ Kǒu Liáng Yào, 苦口良藥). This applies aptly to bitter melon, as it has many claimed health benefits, including being high in vitamin C and fiber, which can help lower blood sugar and may have cancer-fighting properties.
Ingredients Notes And Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.
Fresh items For The Salad
- Bitter Melon: The star ingredient of this recipe! If you are not a huge fan of bitterness and if your local Asian grocery store sells different varieties of bitter melons, opt for white bitter melons over green bitter melons.
- If only green bitter melons are available, opt for those with a lighter green color for a milder taste. Indian bitter melons, which are smaller and pointier at the tip, have smaller and more concentrated wart-like bumps, and are usually darker in color. They tend to be more bitter than the Chinese variety (pictured above and used in this recipe), which is longer and rounder at the tip, has bigger and fewer wart-like bumps, and is usually lighter in color.
- Woodear Mushrooms: I would recommend using fresh woodear mushrooms, as fresh is always best!
- If you only have dried woodear mushrooms, rinse them with water and a bit of flour or starch, which helps bind and remove dirt, then soak them in room temperature to warm water for at least 3-4 hours.
- Red Onions: They not only bring a pop of color, but also a sharp sweetness and a bit of a bite!
- Cilantro: The distinct smell and taste of cilantro pairs so well with the fresh ingredients used, cutting through the dressing and brightening the whole dish. BUT if they taste like soap to you, skip! This bitter melon recipe will still taste great. 🙂
- Dry Roasted Peanuts: They add another layer of crunchiness and hearty texture to the whole dish! Make sure only to add them when ready to serve, or else they will lose their crunch.
- I prefer to use dry-roasted and unsalted peanuts to avoid hidden calories (non dry-roasted nuts are roasted with other vegetable oils) and extra sodium (I can add salt to the dish, but I can't take away the salt from the salted peanuts!). Little things add up!
Fresh items for The Dressing
- Garlic
- Green Onions
- Thai Chili Peppers (Optional): If you like spicy food but don't have any fresh chili peppers, you can use 1 tablespoon of Korean chili powder instead.
Pantry Items for the Dressing
- Light Soy Sauce
- Peanut Oil: Peanut oil (or other high smoke point vegetable oil) is used to activate the aromatics (green onions, garlic, Thai chili peppers, and roasted sesame seeds).
- Sesame Oil: Sesame oil is more of a flavoring oil in this dish due to its low smoke point.
- Roasted Sesame Seeds: They really enhance the sesame oil and add to the dish visually.
- Sugar: Sugar is used both for blanching the bitter melon (to reduce bitterness) and to balance the savory elements in the dressing.
How To Make This Recipe: A Visual Guide
Here is a quick visual rundown! Find the full instructions with ingredients below.
Jump to RecipePreparation
Step 1: In a small mixing bowl, prepare the aromatics for the dressing: green onions, garlic, Thai chili peppers (optional), and white sesame seeds.
Step 2: Prepare the fresh ingredients for the salad by chopping cilantro, red onions, woodear mushrooms, and bitter melon.
Cooking
Step 3: Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the woodear mushroom slices for one minute. After one minute, take them out, place them in cold or ice water to crisp up, drain, and set aside for later use.
Step 4: Bring the same pot of water to a boil and add sugar. Sugar is added to reduce bitter melon's bitterness (like sugar in black coffee).
Step 5: Add bitter melon slices and blanch for one minute. After one minute, take them out, place them in cold or ice water to crisp up, drain, and set aside for later use.
Step 6: In a small sauce pot, heat peanut oil (or other vegetable oil) over medium/high heat. The oil is hot enough when you stick a chopstick (preferably wood or bamboo) and bubbles form rapidly around the chopstick.
Step 7: Pour the hot oil over the aromatics, and prepare for the sizzling sound. There might not be enough hot oil to fully cover all the aromatics, so I prioritized pouring it over the sesame seeds and garlic.
Step 8: Finish making the dressing by adding sesame oil, sugar, and light soy sauce, then mix well.
Assembly
Step 9: In a large mixing bowl, add bitter melon slices, woodear mushroom slice, and red onion slices.
Step 10: Pour the sauce over and mix well.
Step 11: Add cilantro and roasted peanuts.
Step 12: Mix again, and it's ready to be served!
Crunchy Chinese Bitter Melon Salad
Equipment
- 1 soup pot for blanching
- 1 spider strainer or fine mesh strainer for blanching
- 1 small sauce pot (or milk warmer pot) for heating up oil to activate the aromatics
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 1 bitter melon sliced, thinly
- 1-2 cups woodear mushrooms sliced, thinly
- ½ red onion sliced, thinly
- 2 handfuls cilantro chopped
- 3 tablespoon peanuts dry-roasted and unsalted
For the Salad Dressing
- 3 cloves garlic minced or crushed
- 2 stalks green onions chopped
- 2 small Thai chili peppers (optional) chopped
- 2 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
- 1½ tablespoon peanut oil
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
For Blanching
- 1 quart water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
To Make the Dressing
- Chop 2 stalks green onions and mince or crush 3 cloves garlic. Add them in a small bowl.
- Chop and add 2 small Thai chili peppers (optional), if using, and 2 tsp roasted sesame seeds.
- In a small milk pot, heat 1½ Tbsp peanut oil on medium-high. To test whether the oil is hot enough, stick a chopstick in and see whether bubbles form around it. The oil should be hot enough when bubbles forms rapidly around the chopstick.
- Turn off the heat, remove the small milk pot from the stove, and pour the hot oil over the aromatics in the small bowl you had just prepared. There will be sizzling sounds and aromas!Note: I didn't have enough oil to pour over all the aromatics, so I picked garlic and sesame seeds.
- Add ½ Tbsp sesame oil, ½ tsp sugar, and 2 Tbsp light soy sauce.
- Give the dressing a good mix, and it's ready to use.
To Make the Salad
- Cut 1 bitter melon in half, then use a spoon to remove the pith and seeds.
- Once the pith and seeds are removed, slice the bitter melon thinly. Each slice should be about 0.25-inch (0.635 cm).
- Wash and chop 2 handfuls cilantro. Wash and thinly slice 1-2 cups woodear mushrooms and ½ red onion. Set them aside.
- Prepare a soup pot for blanching and bring 1 quart water to a boil.
- Add the sliced woodear mushrooms to the boiling water, and blanch for about one minute.
- Take the woodear mushroom slices out and into a bowl of ice water to crisp them up. Once the woodear mushroom slices have cooled down, drain the water, and set them aside for assembly later. You can take the woodear mushroom slices out and reuse the cold water (add ice if you would like) to cool down the blanched bitter melon slices.
- In the same pot of water for blanching, add 1 Tbsp sugar, sliced bitter melon, and blanch for about one minute.
- Take the bitter melon slices out and place them in a bowl to cool down. To cool them down faster, you can reuse the cold water (add ice if you would like) that was used to cool down the woodear mushroom slices.Once cool enough to handle, squeeze out any excess water and place them in a large mixing bowl for assembly.
- In the same large mixing bowl, add the woodear mushroom slices, red onion slices, and gently mix them.
- Pour the dressing you had just prepared and mix.
- Finally, add 2 handfuls cilantro (chopped), 3 Tbsp peanuts, and give everything a good mix.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is hand-calculated using Cronometer, and should be treated as an estimate only. Values can vary based on the ingredients, brands, and quantities you use. For the most accurate results, please calculate the nutrition using the exact ingredients you use, or consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian.
KK says
Bitter Melon dish is quite a challenge to many people, but this dish is so delicious taht you must try !
Jill says
Turns out I love bitter melons!! Thanks for sharing.
Zelin Yang says
这么棒的苦瓜做饭简直就是大开眼界。我也嘴馋了。