Stir-fried beef with bitter melon on rice
A cha chaan teng rice-plate favourite: blanched bitter melon and silky beef with black beans and garlic — pleasantly bitter, savoury and great with rice.
- 30 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: A balanced constitution simply eats with the seasons. The Summer Solstice brings the longest days and peak heat, when heart fire runs high; bitter melon, bitter and cold, clears the heart and relieves summer heat right in its season. Beef strengthens the spleen and offsets the melon's cold, and a one-plate meal works as a packed lunch too.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 10 min- 1Halve the bitter melon, scoop out the pith and slice thinly on the diagonal. Toss with the salt for 10 minutes, then blanch for 1 minute, rinse under cold water and squeeze dry — this tames much of the bitterness.
- 2Mix the beef with 1 tsp each of soy sauce and cornflour, a little sugar and 1 tbsp water and marinate for 15 minutes; stir in a little oil just before cooking.
- 3Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the beef over high heat until about 70 per cent cooked, then set aside. Fry the garlic, ginger and black beans until fragrant, add the bitter melon and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
- 4Return the beef, add the remaining soy sauce and sugar and the rest of the cornflour mixed with water, toss to glaze and serve at once with rice.
Cautions
- Bitter melon is cold; pregnant women and anyone with a cold, weak stomach or loose stools should eat only a little.
Chef's tips
- Plump melons with broad ridges are less bitter; take the beef out at 70 per cent cooked so it stays tender when it goes back in.
The TCM view
Bitter melon is bitter and cold, clearing summer heat, brightening the eyes and resolving toxicity. Beef is sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen and stomach and boosting qi and blood. Fermented black beans settle the stomach and ease restlessness, and garlic and ginger are warm, tempering the melon's cold. Bitterness enters the heart, so a little at the solstice cools heart fire.
