Stuffed Bitter Melon I

Vegetables, also Vegetarian Foods

Stuffed Bitter Melon I
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 Tablespoons fermented black beans, mashed with side of the cleaver
3 shrimp, shells and veins removed, and minced
1/4 pound ground pork
2 scallions, minced
2 teaspoons thin soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 large bitter melon, cut in half, seeds and pulp removed and discarded
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
1. Heat oil and stir-fry the garlic and the fermented beans for one minute, then remove from the wok or fry-pan and stir in the shrimp and the pork, mixing well. Then add the scallions. Soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar.
2. Stuff the meat-shrimp mixture into the two bitter melon halves and add the rice wine, pepper and salt and one-quarter cup water. Add it to the wok or fry-pan, meat-side down, cover, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Remove the cover, and reduce the remaining liquid by half.
3. Put the bitter melon pieces on a cutting board, cut them into half-inch pieces. Place then cut-side up on a pre-heated platter, pour any liquid remaining over them, and serve.

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