When it comes to summer, bitter melon is a popular choice for home food due to its effect of cooling down your body to get relief from the summer heat. And braised pomfret with bitter melon in black bean garlic sauce (涼瓜炆䱽魚) is one of my favourite ways to prepare this vegetable!
With tender pomfret braised in a robust allure of bitter melon and rich black bean garlic sauce, this dish is packed with multiple flavours, offering a tantalising balance of textures and tastes. As you cook the dish, the pomfret absorbs all the flavours from the savoury bath of bitter melon and black bean garlic sauce, producing a complex flavour profile of distinct, bitter, sweet, fresh, umami, and earthy tastes.
Some people might be put off by the sharp, pungent bitterness of bitter melon, but trust me, when it intertwines with the umami richness of black bean garlic sauce and aromatic spices, its bitterness will mellow out. Unfolding hints of vegetal freshness and its sweet, earthy undertones, this dish might make you start to love this vegetable! Follow my recipe with tips to make this dish perfectly delicious at home and how to reduce the bitterness of bitter melon.
Table of contents
- What is braised pomfret with bitter melon (涼瓜炆䱽魚)?
- What makes this braised pomfret with bitter melon (涼瓜炆䱽魚) so good
- Ingredients for braised pomfret with bitter melon (涼瓜炆䱽魚)
- How to make braised pomfret with bitter melon (涼瓜炆䱽魚)
- How to pan-sear fish with golden-crisp exterior while tender and juicy inside
- Tips on reducing the bitterness of bitter melon
- Health benefits of bitter melon
- What does pomfret taste like?
- How to know if the fish is fully cooked inside?
- How long does this dish last?
- More fish recipes
- You may also like
What is braised pomfret with bitter melon (涼瓜炆䱽魚)?
Braised pomfret with bitter melon in black bean garlic sauce (涼瓜炆䱽魚) is a popular homecooked dish in Cantonese cuisine, especially during the summer season due to bitter melon’s cooling properties. This unique vegetable is known for its distinct bitter taste and is often celebrated for its health benefits, adding a contrasting flavour to the dish, which complements perfectly with the black bean garlic sauce. This sauce is made from fermented black beans and minced garlic, providing a robust umami flavour and enhancing the overall taste profile. It’s hence a common base for many savoury dishes.
With multiple textures and flavours in one dish, it pairs incredibly well with steamed rice, which balances the dish’s strong flavours and helps to mellow the bitterness of the melon. This dish is not only flavourful but also showcases a beautiful balance of textures and tastes, making it a popular choice for a comforting meal!
What makes this braised pomfret with bitter melon (涼瓜炆䱽魚) so good
- Simple and easy to make: This recipe is easy to make with simple steps. All you need to do is to stir-fry the vegetables, cook the glass noodles, and bring all other ingredients together, the meal will then be ready.
- A complete meal: With a combination of carbs, vegetables, and protein, this recipe offers a complete meal that you don’t even need to pair anything else with.
- A hearty, comforting dish: This Sichuan fish with pickled mustard is packed with protein, antioxidants, and other nutritional benefits, making it a soul-satisfying and healthy dish to make at home.
Ingredients for braised pomfret with bitter melon (涼瓜炆䱽魚)
- Pomfret: A flat, oval-shaped fish known for its tender and flaky flesh. It’s often praised for its mild flavour, making it versatile for soaking up sauces.
- Bitter melon: The key vegetable in this recipe that adds a contrasting flavour due to its distinct bitter taste. It is also packed with multiple health benefits, including being high in vitamins and antioxidants.
- Black bean garlic sauce: This sauce is a flavourful condiment commonly used in Chinese cuisine. It’s made primarily from fermented black soybeans (also known as fermented black beans or dou-chi 豆豉) and garlic, which adds a rich umami flavour to the dish with a pungent and aromatic quality.
- Salt: You’ll need to coat the pomfret with salt generously before pan-searing. This not only enhances the fish’s flavour but also prevents the fish skin from sticking to the wok.
- Cornstarch: By coating the fish with cornstarch, this creates a light, crunchy coating when pan-seared.
- Water: For the braising process.
- Aromatic spices: This recipe uses ginger, garlic, shallots, and spring onions to add a robust, aromatic, and savoury flavour to the dish to balance other strong flavours. The combination of these aromatics creates a complex flavour that enhances the dish’s richness.
- Seasonings: This includes sugar and salt to help enhance and neutralise the strong flavours from the bitter melon and the black bean garlic sauce.
How to make braised pomfret with bitter melon (涼瓜炆䱽魚)
- Prepare the ingredients by mincing garlic cloves, slicing ginger and shallots, and chopping spring onions. Set aside.
- Chop off the ends of the bitter melon, slice it in half, and scoop out the flesh, seeds, and pits. Then, diagonally slice it into pieces.
- Transfer them to a large bowl, and generously sprinkle salt over them. Give it a mix, then pour water to a level that covers the bitter melons. Soak in salt water for 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make several cuts on the pomfret. This allows the fish to be more easily cooked. Coat it with salt, then marinate for 5-10 minutes.
- When the bitter melons have been soaked for about half an hour, drain the salt water, and rinse with water.
- Prepare a pot of boiling water, add in bitter melons, and blanch them for 1-2 minutes. Remove the bitter melons from the pot and set aside. NB: Do not cover with a lid while blanching, otherwise the bitter melons will turn yellow.
- Heat some oil in a wok over medium heat, coat the pomfret with cornstarch, then pan-sear with the cut-side down. Add in 2 slices of ginger when searing the fish.
- When one side of the fish turns golden, flip the fish, and sear the other side. Pierce a chopstick through the fish to check if it is fully cooked inside. If so, pour away some oil, turn up the heat to high heat, and pan-sear both sides until golden-brown crisp. Remove the pomfret from the wok and set aside.
- Using the same wok, heat some oil over high heat, then add in ginger, garlic, and shallots. Stir-fry until fragrant.
- Transfer the bitter melons to the wok, add in black bean garlic sauce and water, then stir-fry to mix well. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to medium heat, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the lid, season with sugar and salt, and give it a stir.
- Transfer the pomfret back to the wok, cover it entirely with the bitter melon, aromatics, and the sauce. Add in chopped spring onions, cover with a lid, and braise the fish for another 1-2 minutes.
How to pan-sear fish with golden-crisp exterior while tender and juicy inside
Coat the fish with salt and cornstarch.
By coating the pomfret with salt generously in advance, this not only marinates the fish to enhance its flavour, but also helps prevent the fish from sticking to the wok when searing. Meanwhile, coating the fish with cornstarch promotes even browning during searing, giving the fish an appealing golden colour. It also helps seal in moisture, keeping the fish tender and juicy inside while providing a crispy exterior.
Control oil temperature.
The control of oil temperature in the wok/frying pan plays a crucial role in searing a fish. The oil and the wok need to be hot enough before adding in the fish, as there needs to be enough heat intensity to achieve a crispy, golden-brown exterior instead of being oily. If the oil in the wok is hot enough, this also prevents the fish from sticking to it. However, if the oil is too hot, this may burn the fish exterior while the flesh inside is still undercooked, so be sure to sear the fish over medium heat! When the flesh inside is cooked (how do you know?), pour away excess oil from the wok, then raise the heat to high, and pan-sear the fish until golden-crisp outside.
Pan-sear the cut-side down.
Each whole fish has its own cut-side. Be sure to start with searing the cut-side down to retain the fish’s moisture. This helps achieve a cooked fish with tender and juicy flesh inside!
Do not always flip the fish when pan-searing.
Be sure to flip the fish once or twice when searing in the wok/frying pan, otherwise the fish will lose its moisture. Simply pan-sear one side until golden-brown, then flip the fish, and sear the other side.
Tips on reducing the bitterness of bitter melon
Scoop out the flesh, seeds, and pits inside the bitter melon thoroughly.
The off-white flesh, seeds, and pits inside a bitter melon are the main cause of the bitter taste. Be sure to scoop them out thoroughly to reduce the bitterness.
Soak in salt water for 20-30 minutes.
Soaking the sliced bitter melon in salt water for about half an hour before cooking can help neutralise and reduce its bitterness. Don’t worry if you’ve put too much salt when soaking, as you’ll be rinsing and washing the bitter melon with water afterwards.
Blanch the bitter melon in hot water before cooking.
To further reduce the bitterness of bitter melon, you can prepare a pot of boiling water, then blanch the bitter melon. This not only reduces the bitterness, but also retains the bitter melon’s freshness and crunchiness. Be sure not to cover the pot with a lid as this will turn the bitter melon’s colour to yellow!
Health benefits of bitter melon
Bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd, offers a range of health benefits:
Packed with beneficial nutrients and potential detoxifying properties.
Bitter melon is rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, providing a nutrient boost to the body, reducing the risk of chronic diseases, and can help in the elimination of toxins and free radicals. The presence of vitamins and minerals in bitter melon also boosts the immune system and enhances overall health.
Contains cooling properties.
Bitter melon has cooling properties that can help combat the heat and humidity of summer. In traditional medicine practices, it is often consumed during hot weather to cool the body and reduce internal heat. It also has a high water content, helping to keep the body hydrated during the hot summer months.
Weight management.
Bitter melon is low in calories and high in fibre, which can aid in weight management and promote digestion. This makes it a great choice for weight-loss diets!
What does pomfret taste like?
Pomfret is a versatile and flavourful fish with a mild, sweet taste and white flesh. It retains its moisture and tenderness when cooked, offering a subtle yet satisfying seafood experience. The flesh is not overly fishy, making it appealing to those who prefer a milder taste in seafood dishes.
Its delicate flavour profile allows it to absorb seasonings well, which makes this dish incredibly rich in flavours as pomfret soaks up all the robust, complex flavours from the bitter melon and black bean garlic sauce.
How to know if the fish is fully cooked inside?
As you pan-sear the fish, the sizzling sound will begin to reduce when it is being cooked. You can also poke the fish with a chopstick. If it can pierce through the flesh, that means the fish is done.
How long does this dish last?
I wouldn’t recommend keeping fresh fish dish overnight, so be sure to enjoy this dish on the same day.
Offering a harmonious blend of salty, earthy, umami, bitter, and sweet flavours, this braised pomfret with bitter melon in black bean garlic sauce (涼瓜炆䱽魚) is a simple rich and savoury dish to make at home. It is quick and easy to make, full of robust flavours, and a perfect weeknight dinner recipe for summer.
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Braised Pomfret with Bitter Melon in Black Bean Garlic Sauce (涼瓜炆䱽魚)
Ingredients
- 1 pomfret
- 1 bitter melon diagonally sliced
- Coarse salt (for soaking the bitter melons and marinating the pomfret)
- Cornstarch (for coating the pomfret)
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 5 pcs ginger
- 3 pcs shallots
- Spring onions chopped into 2-inch length
- Water (for soaking the bitter melons)
- About 6 tbsp oil (for cooking)
For the seasoning sauce
- 2 tsp garlic black bean sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 100 ml water
Instructions
Prepare the ingredients
- Mince the garlic cloves, slice the ginger and shallots into pieces, and chop the spring onions into about 2-inch length. Set aside.
- For the bitter melon, chop off the ends, slice it into half, and scoop out the flesh, seeds, and pits. Removing these will reduce the bitterness. Diagonally slice the bitter melon, and transfer them into a large bowl.
- Sprinkle coarse salt generously over the bitter melons (about 2 tsp), give it a mix, and pour in water to a level that covers the bitter melons. Soak in salt water for 20-30 mins.
- Meanwhile, cut the edges and the main body of the fish. This allows the fish to be more easily cooked and better absorb the flavours. Marinate with some coarse salt for 5-10 mins.
Pre-cooking
- Boil water in a wok, transfer the bitter melons into it, and blanch them for 1-2 mins. Set aside. Tip: do not cover the wok with a lid when blanching, otherwise the bitter melons will turn yellow.
- Using the same wok, heat about 4 tbsp oil over medium heat. Pan-sear the pomfret with the cut-side down. Add in 2 pieces of sliced ginger. This helps remove the fishy taste of the pomfret.
- When one side has turned golden, flip the fish, and pan-sear the other side. Tip: do not always flip the fish to retain its moisture.
- As the sizzling sound reduces, this means the fish is nearly done. Check its doneness by piercing a chopstick through the thickest part of the body. If it goes through, then the fish is cooked inside.
- Throw away some oil from the wok, then increase the heat, and pan-sear both sides to achieve a nice golden-brown crisp exterior. Set aside.
Cook the dish altogether
- Heat another 2 tbsp of oil in the wok over medium heat. Add in ginger, shallots, and minced garlic, stir-fry until fragrant.
- Transfer the bitter melons to the wok, add in black bean garlic sauce and water, then stir-fry to mix well.
- Cover with a lid, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 2-3 mins.
- Remove the lid, season with sugar and salt, and make a quick stir-fry. Add in more water as you cook to achieve a desired consistency of the sauce.
- Make space in the wok, and place the cooked pomfret at the bottom. Cover it with the bitter melons, aromatics, and sauce. This allows the pomfret to soak up the flavours during the braising process.
- Add in chopped spring onions, and cover with a lid. Braise for 1-2 mins.
- Transfer them to a serving plate and enjoy.
