Bitter gourd, charantia or bitter melon are all pointing to one particular vegetable which is common in the Philippines, ampalaya.
Ampalaya is a vegeteble which has an intense bitter taste but has so much nutrients and gives so many health benefits. It is the basic ingredient of some popular Filipino recipes such as pakbet or pinakbet, ginisang ampalaya sa itlog (saute ampalaya con egg) and ensaladang ampalaya.
I used to eat cooked ampalaya like the first two mentioned recipes but I never tried eating it raw. Cooked ampalaya for me has an intense bitter taste, I only eat this vegetable because I know I can get a lot of health benefits from it.
Yesterday in a simple gathering that my family attended, a friend prepared this "ensaladang ampalaya" which I never heard in my entire life. I told her, cooked ampalaya is bitter, what more if I eat it raw and I refused to try it. My husband took a spoon of ensaladang ampalaya and upon seeing his facial expression, I concluded that it must be good since my husband doesn't eat ampalaya whenever i cook some.
In short, I also tried a piece and a few sauce and found out that it really tastes good and the bitter taste is 50% lesser. So I ended up asking my friend for the complete procedure and she gave me her recipe.
Ingredients:
1 kg. fresh ampalaya
500 grams of pineapple chunks
5 pcs. red egg (itlog na pula, slices)
5 pcs. tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp.sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Procedure:
Slice the ampalaya
Put it in a deep container
Add the pineapple chunks, juice included
Add all ingredients
Mix well then marinate, refrigerate
After a few hours, your ensaladang ampalaya is ready to serve.