Bitter melon pork stir-fry with mung bean brown rice
Crisp, gently bitter melon stir-fried with pork and black beans, served with mung bean brown rice — make it the night before for work.
- 1 hr 20 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Damp-Heat shows up as breakouts and a bitter taste, and the rising heat and humidity of Start of Summer set it off. Bitter melon clears Heart fire and mung beans relieve summer heat, while neutral pork and brown rice keep you full without grease.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 60 min- 1Rinse the brown rice and mung beans and soak for 2 hours (soak them in the morning and keep in the fridge). Add 300 ml water and cook on the rice cooker's brown rice setting.
- 2Halve the bitter melon, scoop out the seeds and scrape off the white pith. Slice thinly on the diagonal, toss with the salt for 10 minutes, then rinse and squeeze dry to tame the bitterness.
- 3Slice the pork thinly and marinate with the soy sauce and cornflour for 10 minutes. Rinse the black beans briefly and crush them.
- 4Heat the oil, fry the garlic and black beans until fragrant, add the pork and stir-fry over high heat until it changes colour, then lift out.
- 5Stir-fry the bitter melon in the same wok for 2 minutes, splash in 2 tbsp water and cook until bright green and just tender. Return the pork and toss.
- 6Pack with the rice and refrigerate. Next day, microwave for 2–3 minutes until piping hot.
Cautions
- Bitter melon and mung beans are cold: go easy in pregnancy, if your digestion runs cold or if you get loose stools.
Chef's tips
- Dislike bitterness? Pick pale, smooth-bumped bitter melons and scrape off all the white pith.
- Cook a big batch of mung bean brown rice and freeze it in portions; microwave straight from frozen.
The TCM view
Bitter melon is bitter and cold and enters the Heart, clearing fire and summer heat; mung beans are sweet and cold and clear heat and toxins; brown rice is sweet and neutral and keeps you regular; pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing without adding heat. A little pungent, warm garlic and black bean balances the cold, so the meal clears heat without hurting digestion.
