Bitter Melon (Kho Qua) with Eggs

When I was a wee girl back in the day, my mom would put some bitter melon in my rice bowl and tell me to eat it because "it's good for you" and it will "cool you down". I'd smile and say "cam on", which means thank you in Vietnamese, and then when she wasn't looking, I'd push the bitter melon underneath my rice. Why? Because I knew that after a while, I'd start to accumulate things like bones and whatnot that would continue to hide that piece of bitter melon as I finish up my rice. And when dinner was over, I'd dump the bones along with the lovely piece of bitter melon.

To this day I still can't stand the taste of bitter melon, but I can tolerate it if I hold my nose while eating it. Anyways, for those of you who like bitter melon (and I last night, I found out my two year old, J, likes it), or for those who haven't and would like to be adventurous, here's a simple and supposedly healthy recipe for you, courtesy of my mom. Variations of this dish is found in many cuisines, including Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, and Japanese.

You will need four bitter melons:

Cut them up, and scoop out the seeds:

...and then slice them up further into strips:

Prepare the egg batter by mixing 6 eggs, a quarter cup of chopped cilantro, a quarter cup of chopped green onions, about 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and a dash of pepper:

Now mince two cloves of garlic and stir fry the bitter melon strips for about 5 minutes with the garlic and a few tablespoons of oil until the melon is soft but not soggy. You can sprinkle about a tablespoon of salt over the bitter melon strips to keep them from becoming soggy. Add in an extra teaspoon of sugar to flavor the melon strips.

Then add the egg batter and gently scramble it with the bitter melon until the egg is done, about five minutes.

Enjoy your bitter creation, and if you believe what my mom was telling me last night, drink some water afterwards and the water will taste so sweet. So do you like your bitter melon or can you do without it?

Grandma's Fish Cake Rolls (Cha Ca)

As long as I can remember, my mom has made these fish cake rolls for us for many, many dinners. I recently found out that this dish was passed on to her by my paternal grandmother, who passed away half a decade ago. I learned to make this from my mom while I was away at college, but since I found out where this dish originated, I can't help but think of my grandma everytime I prepare it.

A note about fish paste (cha ca). You can certainly make it from scratch by grinding up fish by yourself, but since I'm too lazy and tired, I find it rather easy to buy either fresh fish paste or frozen from my local 99 Ranch or another asian supermarket. If you buy the frozen tubs, you will need to defrost it under water before you make it, or let it defrost overnight in the fridge. I've tried defrosting it in the microwave but it ends up cooking it and it becomes clumpy. There are also red fish paste and white fish paste. I've always used the white kind for the rolls.

Does anyone else cook these rolls or have seen them made anywhere? There are fish cakes, of course (and I will write about these in a future post), but I haven't seen any of these fish rolls outside of my family circle.