A quick and easy, traditional stir-fried Chinese bitter melon recipe made with tender beef and a homemade black bean sauce made from scratch!

Table of Contents
Bitter melon (bitter gourd) - you either love it or you hate it. If you love it, keep reading - this recipe will be right up your alley! 🙂 ...and if you're curious then give it a try (just do it in a smaller batch to see if you like it). Either way, this is definitely going to be an acquired taste.
For this bitter melon recipe, I stayed close to the traditional way of serving it because it hits close to home and brings a lot of nostalgia eating it this way. (I am sure most Asians can relate to this since at one point in our life we were probably forced to eat this at the dinner table for its nutritional benefits).
The black bean sauce compliments the beef very well (and it works equally well with chicken as well) and the sauce masks some of the bitter flavor from the melon as well which is great because bitter melon itself doesn't really have much of a flavor except bitter and 'green'. So for anyone who is looking for a classic Chinese bitter melon recipe - this one's for you!
This dish is definitely an acquired taste, but the health benefits from it are worth it! 🙂
If you're looking for some simple classic and easy recipes to serve with this dish, I love to contrast the bitter flavors from the melon with my Chinese Ketchup Shrimp Stir Fry, or a simple Scrambled Egg and Shrimp dish.
Ingredients
For this recipe bitter melon recipe, you can find most things from your local grocery store, however bitter melon, fermented black beans, and oyster sauce might be trickier to find and will most likely be found at an Asian grocery store.
Fermented black beans are not the same as the black beans you find in grocery stores. Fermented black beans are softer and fermented and very salty - as opposed to the common dried hard black beans which are typically used in soups and stews.
How To Choose Bitter Melon At the Store
You can usually find bitter melon at an Asian grocery store or an Indian grocery store. Bitter melons from an Asian grocery store will be different looking than the ones you find at an Indian grocery store but will have very similar flavor. When you are shopping for bitter melons, look for un-bruised and firm ones.
How to Make Bitter Melon Less Bitter
Par-Boiling vs. Non-Par Boiling the Bitter Melon
To remove more of the bitterness, you can par-boil sliced bitter melon in hot water. Try not to boil it for more than 1 minute (I like to boil it for about 30 seconds), the longer you boil it, the mushier the melon will be and it can potentially fall apart during the stir-frying stage.
You can also skip par-boiling the bitter melon and use it as-is right after you slice it up. The outcome in the final dish will be a firmer bitter melon texture with a bit of a crunch but it will be slightly more bitter. The bonus to doing this is it keeps all the nutrients since you won't be losing in by boiling it.
How to Make Chinese Bitter Melon Stir Fry
Prepare the Bitter Melon
To prepare bitter melon, cut it in half length-wise and scoop out all the seeds and spongy encasing with the spoon. Once the bitter melon has been cleaned out, you can slice it up. I find it is less bitter when you slice them thinner, so I like to cut mine ¼ inch thick.
Make the Homemade Black Bean Sauce
Making homemade black bean sauce is a lot easier than you think, the hardest part is probably finding fermented black beans. Keep in mind that the fermented black beans are not the same as the dried black beans you find at the grocery store, and if you are having a hard time finding them locally, your best bet would be to find them online - don't worry these have a very high shelf life from the high salt content.
To make the homemade black bean sauce, I find quickly soaking the fermented black beans to give them a little moisture helps before smushing them with a back of a spoon (or you can chop them up with a knife).
Once you have the smushing out of the way, you just combine it with the rest of the sauce ingredients (soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, water, garlic, and sesame oil) and you're good to go. At this point, it will still look watery because you will still need a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce at the very end.
Stir Fry Everything Together
Once you have the bitter melon sliced, the beef marinated in a marinade, and the black bean sauce prepared, heat up a wok or frying pan to medium-high heat and pan-fry the beef until it is about 80% done. Then add in the bitter melon and sauce and cook everything for about 1-2 minutes, then mix in a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.
FAQs
You don't need to peel Chinese bitter melon because the skin is soft and edible.
I like to store it wrapped in a paper towel in the fridge in a loose plastic bag. You want to give it some air so that it doesn't trap moisture and mold but you also want to keep it a little covered so it doesn't dry out.
No, bittermelon does not freeze well in the freezer.
After you slice the bitter melon, you can par-boil it in boiling water for 1 minute to reduce the bitterness.
More Chinese Recipes You May Like
- Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce
- Sweet and Sticky Char Siu (叉烧, Chinese BBQ Pork)
- Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (鱼香茄子)
- Beef Chow Fun
- Crispy Cantonese Beef Chow Mein
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Recipe Card
Stir Fried Bitter Melon with Beef and Black Bean Sauce
Recipe Notes
- To retain more nutrients from the bitter melon, you can skip pre-boiling the bitter melon and directly cook it in the frying pan with the sauce. The bitter melon will be more bitter and have a bit more raw veggie crunch.
- This recipe makes enough for 2 people but can easily doubled with no issues
Ingredients
- 1 bitter melon
- 200 g beef (flank, skirt, or any type of steak, cut into thin slices)
Beef Marinade
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon water
- ½ teaspoon sugar (or honey)
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce (optional)
Homemade Black Bean Sauce
- 3 tablespoons fermented black beans
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
- 1 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoon sugar (or honey)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ cup water
Corn Starch Slurry (Thickener)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
Preparation
- Wash the bitter melon, and on a cutting board - cut it length wise down the middle
- Scrape the seeds out with a spoon
- Thinly slice the melon (¼ inch thick) and set it aside in a bowl
- Mix the corn starch and water (the water must be cold) and set aside for the very end. We will use the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce.
Marinating the Beef
- Thinly slice the beef and add it to a bowl
- Combine the marinade ingredients into bowl with the beef and mix it together. Set it aside for later.
Preparing the Homemade Black Bean Sauce
- In a bowl, gently rinse the fermented black beans for a few seconds to soften it a bit more and to rinse out some of the salt.
- On a cutting board, smush the beans up with the back of a spoon (or finely chop it with a knife) and add it back to the bowl.
- Finely chop the garlic and add it to the bowl
- Combine the rest of the 'Homemade Black Bean Sauce' ingredients into the bowl and mix and set aside
BOILING THE BITTER MELON (Optional)
- Fill a pot up with water and set it on the stove and wait for it to boil.
- Once the water is boiling, add the bitter melon in and cook it for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Drain and run the bitter melon under cold water in a strainer or throw it in a ice bath to stop the cooking process.
- Once the bitter melon is cool, set it in a strainer/colander and set it aside.
STIR FRYING EVERYTHING TOGETHER
- In a frying pan, add a bit of oil and set it to medium to medium high heat
- Once the pan and oil is hot, add in the beef and quickly stir fry it until it is just cooked (approximately 3-4 minutes)
- Add in the fermented black bean sauce and cook it for 1-2 minutes
- Stir the corn starch slurry (the corn starch will settle to the bottom), and once it is well mixed, add it into the sauce keep stirring until the sauce is thick - the sauce should be a dark brown color that looks glossy and thick. (Don't worry if the sauce looks very thick, it will stick to the bitter melon better this way)
- Add in the bitter melon and cook it for 1-2 minutes. If you didn't boil it, cook it for 1-2 minutes more.
- Enjoy with a side of rice! 🙂
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Stephanie says
Made this twice. Adjusted the sugar the second time to 1 Tbsp, still not the taste I'm looking for. Something is missing for me, not the traditional Chinese black bean sauce to my tastebud. Not sure I will try it again, but if I do, I will probably try 1 Tsp sugar and work from there.
Josie says
This dish is very good.& healthy, especially bitter melon is good for those who have acne. We all love it. Thank you
Joyce Lee says
Hi Josie!
Yes! haha My mom always used to make me eat it as a kid to help with my acne. She mentioned that it was 'cooling'! Although I wasn't a fan as a kid, I definitely enjoy it a lot more as an adult now. Nostalgia!
Patti K says
Perfect flavor. Used a bit more than the three tablespoons but I love black beans. Had Indian bitter melon, the mossy dark green one not blanched. Thank you for a most delicious meal.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Patti!
I'm very happy you enjoyed it!
I have never used it with Indian bitter melon before so it's good to hear that it works well with it too! 🙂
wendy says
This is one of my favorite dishes so I’ve cooked it using several recipes from the internet. Your recipe is by far the most superior of them all! I’m currently pregnant and have meat aversion so I switched out the beef with firm tofu and it was so satisfying to eat. I can not highlight how perfect your sauce is. Thank you for this recipe and for bringing my childhood back.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Wendy,
I think tofu is an amazing idea, I definitely should try that next time! Dave (a reader who also made this recipe) sent me some bittermelon seeds and I'm excited to grow them and try it with tofu now! 🙂 I'm so happy you liked this and thank you for such warm kind words. This definitely brings back childhood memories back as well and I'm happy we can enjoy that! *hugs to you*