Ginisang Ampalaya (Filipino Recipe)

Growing up, this was a dish I loved to hate. As a Filipino child, every dish starts off smelling the same: sautéed onions, garlic, and tomato bases with everything else to come after. Then the dish is just a guessing game from the aromas pouring into my room. I kid you not though, when my parents would call my sister and I to dinner and I would see this dish on the table and be PISSED.

Why be this angry at a dish? I'll tell you why:

1.  It's bitter melon. It's super bitter and lives up to it's name.
2. There was never enough pork or scrambled egg to dilute the bitter, nasty taste of the bitter melon.
3. My sister and I were in elementary school when my parents really starting making us eat this.
4. It's bitter melon.

As I got older and my mom (STILL) continued to make this dish, I would cut up the bitter melon into chunks and hold my breath while forcing myself to eat the bitter melon because mom and dad said it was good for me (click here for the health benefits). NOW, as an adult living on my own, I crave this Filipino dish and actually love the bitter taste (funny how we're conditioned into being healthy right?). IF you're up to the challenge, try it out. It's pretty much scrambled eggs and bitter melon (I added pork because I wanted to, the dish doesn't really call for it - it does make it taste super yummy though!).

Click here to go to Panlasang Pinoy for the recipe! 

Here's the finished product down below:

Enjoy the bitter! :)