Bitter Melon Soup (Canh Kho Qua)
Bitter melon soup is made with hollowed out bitter melons (bitter gourd), stuffed with a pork mince mixture and cooked in a light soup. A simple and healthy dish to be eaten with steaming white jasmine rice.
- Prep time
- 25 min
- Cook time
- 50 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 10 gm pre-shredded black fungus / wood ear mushroom, (roughly chopped)
- 40 gm bean thread noodles (cut into 2 cm / 1 in )
- 800 gm bitter melon (roughly 3 large or 4 medium sized) (cut into 4 cm / 1.5 in chunks)
- 500 gm pork mince
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- boiling water
- 2.5 L water
- 1/2 tsp vegetable stock powder
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 spring onions (cut into 10 cm / 4 in lengths)
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
Instructions
- 1
Soak the black fungus in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain then roughly chop into 1.5 cm / 0.5 inch pieces.
- 2
Soak the bean vermicelli noodles for 5 minutes. Drain then chop into 1.5 cm / 0.5 inch pieces.
- 3
Cut the bitter melons into 4 cm / 1.5 in chunks, then use a spoon to scoop out the pith and seeds.
- 4
Combine the black fungus, noodles, pork mince, sugar, salt and fish sauce in a large bowl.
- 5
Stuff each of the bitter melons with the pork mince mixture. Roll any leftover stuffing into balls.
- 6
Optional Step: Put the meat balls and the stuffed melons into separate large bowls and pour boiling water over them. Gently move them around to release the scum.
- 7
Add the water, vegetable stock powder, sugar and salt to a large stock pot and bring it to the boil on high.
- 8
Add the stuffed bitter melons, meat balls, spring onions and fish sauce to the soup. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 50 minutes or until tender.
- 9
After 50 minutes, remove one of the stuffed bitter melons and check it for tenderness. If at desired tenderness, turn off the heat. If not then allow to cook further.
- 10
Check the seasoning of your soup and adjust to your liking.
- 11
Serve with white jasmine rice and soy sauce.