I think no one will ever understand my love for bittermelon soup, I mean c'mon, it's VERY bitter. But the Asian grandma in me refuses to neglect this dish and after a long weekend full of sweets and MSG, I needed it. I'm in a full-on detox mode right now as all the junk/unhealthy food has caught up to me and pretty much given me peripheral edema. Hence, I've been making this week all about getting the right nutrients: eating my greens, drinking lots of herbal tea and staying away from high sugar and sodium foods.
Of course I resorted to my roots and had to make something Vietnamese. So what better dish than stuffed bittermelon soup, which is known not only for its healing properties (its literally jam packed with nutrients) but it only requires less than 4 ingredients!
Well, the original recipe calls for ground pork, lots of fish sauce and sugar, -which I totally opted out of to make it healthier. Instead I substituted pork for ground lean turkey and just completely left out the latter. This way, I could truly reap all the raw, nutritional benefits from this fruit as it seeps out into the broth itself -bitterness included. I suppose it is somewhat of an acquired taste, but it's something definitely worth trying!
Here's what you'll need:
3-4 bittermelon squash
Ground turkey (w/ black pepper to season)
Chicken broth (Trader Joe's Fat Free/Low Calorie)
Bok Choy
Water
Add in the chicken broth into a large pot and dilute it with some water. Heat up the broth on medium high. Meanwhile, cut up the bitter melon into about 2 inch pieces. Using the handle of a metal spoon, scoop out the seeds/insides of the melon and discard. Season the ground turkey with black pepper and mix thoroughly (use your hands, its easier). Then fill each of the bitter melon pieces with the ground turkey. When the broth is boiling, add in the stuffed bitter melon into the pot. Turn down the heat to medium low and allow it to cook for about 45 minutes or until the bitter melon gets soft and is somewhat more of a translucent green. Add in the bok choy 5 minutes before serving and add pepper to taste!
Try it, your body will thank you.
Happy Thursday,
Theresa
0 comments:
Post a Comment