Canh Khổ Qua (Bittermelon Soup)

The Vietnamese name for Bitter Melon is “Khổ Qua”. Khổ means “hardship” and Qua means “over”. Together Khổ Qua means “hardship is over” thus, Khổ Qua is always served during new years so that all of the hardship can be swallowed allowing one to expect an easy going year to come.

Ingredients:
-Approximately 2 lbs bitter melon
-1lb ground pork
-100g dried woodear mushrooms
-1 small bundle cellophane noodles (approx. 30g)
-3/4 tsp fish sauce (more to taste)
-1/2 tsp sugar
-1 tsp pepper
-cilantro
-green onions

What to Do:
Wash bitter melon and cut in half or thirds, remove seeds. Soak woodear mushrooms in water until soft cut into thin strips. Cut cellophane noodles into short strands. Mix together mushrooms, noodles, pork, fish sauce, sugar and pepper. Stuff filling into bitter melons pieces. Bring a pot to water to a boil, add bitter melon and 2 tbs fish sauce. Simmer until bitter melon is tender, add fish sauce to taste. Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro.

Note:
Fish sauce helps make the bitter melon not bitter, if you prefer a slightly bitter taste use salt instead of fish sauce.