"Ampalaya" aka Stir Fried Bitter-melon

You may have heard about this vegetable & yes, it is a vegetable! Don't be fooled by the name. You may have seen or heard it from Annie's Garden as she sells this in Detroit Lakes Farmers Market. This vegetable is known to be packed with nutrients and vitamins that are good for your health (you might say, well isn't that the case for most of vegetables anyways?) Yes! But Ampalaya, bitter-melon, bitter gourd, momordica or however one may know it is known for its medicinal benefits. It helps balance a person's blood pressure and has health benefits to people who are diabetic.

It is called "bitter" melon for a reason as it has a bitter aftertaste. Annie & her side of the family are born and raised from the Philippines which is a country from the Southeast Asia. "Ampalaya" is a very well-known vegetable over there and is cooked as a stir fry paired with often white rice.

Other countries serve this in a soup or dries it to use for herbal tea.

Here is a recipe from the internet on how to make stir fried bitter-melon:

https://dwellbymichelle.com/ginisang-ampalaya/

"Pancit" aka Stir fry Rice Noodle Recipe

6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken

• 1/2 lb bihon noodles aka fine rice noodles

• 1/2 cabbage head, choppped in 1inch sized squares

• 2 lg carrots, bâtonnet cut

• 1 tbsp garlic, minced

• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

• 1 med onion, chopped

• 3 stalk celery, chopped

• 6 cups water or chicken broth for more flavor

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Instruction

1. Pour 6 cups of water in a cooking pot. Let boil. Put-in the chicken and boil for 30 minutes.

2. Remove the boiled chicken from the cooking pot. Let it cool down. Shred the meat and discard the bones. Set aside. Note: do not throw the water yet, we will use it later as chicken stock.

3. Meanwhile, soak the sotanghon and bihon noodles in water for 10 minutes. Set aside. Note: do this by using a large mixing bowl and fill it with tap water.

4. Heat a large pan. Pour-in 2 tablespoons cooking oil.

5. Let the oil get hot then stir-fry the cabbage and carrots for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

6. On the same pan, heat the remaining cooking oil. Once the oil becomes smoking hot, saute the onion, celery, and garlic.

7. Add the ground black pepper and shredded chicken. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

8. Pour-in soy sauce and 1 cup of chicken stock (this is the water that was used to boil the chicken). Stir and let boil. Cook for 2 minutes more.

9. Add the soaked noodles. Toss the noodles until all the ingredients are well blended. If the noodles is somewhat dry, add a cup of chicken stock and continue to toss until the liquid is absorbed.

10. Put-in the stir-fried cabbage and carrots. Toss.

11. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with lemon or calamansi.

12. Share and enjoy!

Steak from Annie's

We also sell meat! Our beef are locally raised in our farm. They are not fully grass-fed but we do raise our own grain feeds (Non-GMO and organically raised) & cut our own hay. During spring through fall we let our cows out roaming around our cow pasture to let them eat grass. We do not treat our animals with any hormones or antibiotics as we also eat the food that we produce and we prefer not to add any of such to our food.

We offer different cuts of steaks (T-Bone, Ribeye, Sirloin as well as ground beef, chuck, roasts, soup bones etc). For more informations on how to order besides coming to our designated markets every market days during spring through fall, please don't hesitate to call our contact number given in front of our website page as well as our Facebook page.