Today’s recipe is a vegetarian salad with bitter melon, or sometimes called bitter gourd. In Japanese this vegetable is called Goya (ゴーヤ) or Nigauri (にがうり).
The bitter melon is dressed with tofu and sesame sauce, and it’s not only healthy and light but also delicious! The tofu and sesame flavor makes the “bitterness” very gentle and mild, so if you are not a fan of bitter melon this recipe could change your mind.
When I was growing up in Japan, bitter melon wasn’t a common vegetable except for Okinawa and Kyushu island. Because of the recent popularity of Okinawan food, bitter melon is now available throughout the Japan.
Goya Champuru, a stir fry dish with goya (bitter melon), egg, tofu and pork/spam, has become one of the most popular Okinawan dishes that are featured on the TV cooking shows and are available at restaurants in the main land.
Because my mom didn’t cook this vegetable, I was a late bloomer. After I moved to the U.S., I had seen this interesting vegetable all the time at Asian markets and one day I decided to buy one to cook.
My first attempt with bitter melon wasn’t good. I can’t recall how I prepared it but all I remember was the unique bitterness of this vegetable. I have been occasionally eating bitter melon dishes at Chinese restaurants, but until recently I didn’t try cooking it again.
I gave another try last year after a few of my readers requested a recipe using bitter melon (thank you!). This time I knew how I wanted to prepare – shiraae style.
When tofu is mashed and mixed with sesame seeds and other condiments, the dressing or sauce is called shiraae (白和え). The nutty tofu flavor is exceptionally wonderful with fresh green vegetable.
There are many variations of shiraae too, depending on what kind of condiments you want to add. I used miso for my Green Bean Shiraae recipe and used sesame oil for this recipe to increase more nutty flavor.
Hope you enjoy bitter melon and nutty tofu shiraae combination!
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- 1 bitter melon
- 1 medium-firm tofu
- 1 inch ginger
- 4 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
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Gather all the ingredients.
- Open the tofu package and drain the tofu.
- Cut the bitter melon in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with spoon.
- Slice thinly. I like my vegetable crunchy so I cut into 1/8 inch pieces, but you can cut thinner as well.
- Cook the bitter melon in the salted boiling water for 3-5 minutes (depending on your liking) and drain well.
- Soak the bitter melon in cold water for 5 minutes, then drain really well.
- Meanwhile wrap the tofu with paper towel on top of a large plate. Microwave the tofu for 2 minutes (1000 Watt) to further drain the water. Discard the excess water and let it cool.
- Grate the ginger to have about 1 tsp. including juice.
- Grind the roasted white sesame seeds well. You can leave some sesame seeds ungrounded for texture.
- Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a large bowl and mix all together.
- Add the cooled tofu and mix well. Then add the bitter melon (if necessary, you can wipe off the extra moisture with paper towel so it won’t dilute the sauce).
- Mix all together. You can serve at room temperature or you can chill for half an hour before serving. It gets watery from the tofu so I highly recommend serving soon.
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Don’t know if I can find bitter melon here Nami, but I have some homemade tofu left in the fridge. I’ll try with a different vegetable, maybe with a slightly bitter one like a radish called “Scorzonera”. I’m very happy for this new tofu recipe anyway. Thank you Nami 🙂
Hi Serena! This tofu & sesame dressing works with any vegetables. I like green beans and spinach most. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I’m a huge fan of bitter melon and am delighted to see you post this recipe. Can’t wait to try this!
Hi Janice! Glad to hear we have a bitter melon fan. 🙂 I hope you like this recipe!
I like bitter melon cooked Chinese style, with pork, either in black bean sauce or soy sauce. I didn’t like it until recently, as an adult. I will try this salad!
Hi Susan! I’ve been eating several kinds of bitter melon dishes in Chinese restaurant and they are all pretty delicious. But agree, it took me a several attempt until I start serving bitter melon dishes to my late. Hope you enjoy this dish! 🙂
hi Nami
u can try to soak the cut bittergourd in ‘salted’ water, which will make the bittergourd less bitter.
Thank you Geo! 🙂
bitter melon with beef and black bean sauce was one of my fav dishes growing up. a tip from my mom is to toss the melon in some salt and let them sweat for a bit to release some of their bitterness. Then rinse and cook 🙂
Hi Helen! Thank you so much for your tip! I’ll try that next time. I boiled with salted water so I thought I could skip that process. Maybe the bitterness may totally disappear if I do salt treatment one more time. 🙂
We are able to grow this each summer since we have such a long growing season. We always have more than enough and are able to freeze some for use during winter. My husband loves bitter melon but it’s not my favorite. In fact he likes anything bitter and favors eggplant varieties which tend to be on the bitter side.
Hi Kitty! I never knew we can freeze bitter melon! Thank you for letting me know. Your bitter melon must be really good, especially you grow in your garden! Thank you so much for your kind comment, Kitty! 🙂
Can I used uncooked bitter gourd to make this dish? I’ve tried eating raw bitter gourd – it was a dare I accepted in a moment of madness – and I found that it wasn’t as bitter as a cooked one. Or, maybe the bitter gourd I ate was not a very bitter one. But I still remember the taste of it, and it wasn’t at all bad.
Hi Kisa! I’ve only had cooked bitter melon so I’m not sure how it’s like. Unless you slice very thinly and sprinkle salt to make it soft, the texture difference between hard bitter melon and soft tofu won’t match inside your mouth. One ingredient is crunchy and the other mushy… you know what I mean? If you don’t mind the difference and liked the raw version, I think it works? 🙂
Hi Nami! I am anxious to try this recipe, but I have a couple of questions. Could I make the dressing using sesame paste instead of grinding the sesame seeds myself? If so, how much paste would be the correct substitution?
I don’t have a way to grind the seeds, but I found a jar of white sesame paste at the local Asian grocery store, and I have everything else that’s listed already.
Thanks for sharing this, and all your other wonderful dishes!
I assume sesame paste is very smooth texture so I recommend you to add some sesame seeds to add texture. Even though I ground the seeds, there are some rough texture to it and it blends very well with smooth and soft tofu. If there are only sesame paste and tofu, I feel it’s missing something. To replace the ground sesame seeds, I’m not sure how much paste you need to add. You can try first with 3-4 Tbsp. and mix with tofu, but you probably don’t need to add sesame oil as the paste should have some oil in it. Or you may need to add a little bit but definitely not 2 Tbsp. like this recipe said. I really hope it will work! It’s hard to imagine without trying the recipe myself, and I only know Japanese sesame paste and don’t know other kinds. Good luck and I hope you enjoy this recipe!
I’m eating this for breakfast right now with rice on the side. Delicious!
Aww thanks so much Rachel! I hope you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
i have been eating goya for 45 years my wife gave it to me before we got married i like it with spam and eggs also raw.the way my wife prepares it she cuts the way you say after she removes the seeds she washes it with salt then washes the salt off it i never tried to make a drink with it but she told me to blend it with orange and apples.she was raised with it she is from okinawa
Hi Tom! Thanks so much for sharing your story! Goya and egg is so delicious together and how wonderful to add spam! That makes into a great hearty meal! Thank you for sharing wife’s recipe. 🙂
I remember eating bitter melon since I was a child because my mom often made a Filipino dish that had it called Pinakbet! Other than that, I’ve had no other experiences with bitter melon.
Recently, my friend from Okinawa told methat she made a dish called Goya champuru. Now I want to try the famous Okinawan dish. Please share a recipe! 🙂
Hi Arielle! Yeah, Goya Champuru is delicious! It’s quite simple to make too. Thank you for your request. It’s been on my list, and I need to work on it. 🙂
I just made this tonight. And I will make it many more times for family and friends.
It was delicious! Thanks again for sharing the recipes.
Hi Gwen! I’m so happy you liked this recipe! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Gwen! xo 🙂
Hi, Nami
I’m Interested in knowing if there is a substitute. For oyster sauce and fish sauce. Because I’m allergic to both
Of them….. thank you ????Greta
Hi Greta! It really depends on the recipe you’re cooking. Sometimes you can skip it. 🙂
Still recovering from a broken shoulder and knee on my dominant side after I fell off a step stool inspecting the stucco above my porch. OUCH! ITAI! I went to the market and purchased bitter melon, Japanese eggplant, zucchini, and sweet potato since I was craving fresh cooked veggies! I think I’ll do a combo of the veggies (minus sweet potato) for the salad. I’ll have enough leftover to maybe make a soup. Sweet potatoes will be fine steamed or baked with butter. Already started a stock with leftover ham and beef. It’s quite flavorful and I think it will make a great base for soup. It’s 90° out but I want soup. I figure the salad will balance it out! It’ll take me forever to cut veggies up with an injured shoulder but I will persevere! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Chieko! I just saw your comment when I got another comment in this post – sorry somehow I didn’t get to read your comment till now. Sorry for my late response!
How’s your shoulder and knee now? Hope it’s been a month since this comment is posted that you’re feeling better and things are better. I can’t believe you fell off a step stool… ouch….Hope you enjoy this recipe and the new bitter melon recipe I posted. 🙂 Take good care!
never thought of using bitter gourd in salads. will definitely try this one soon! thanks for this recipe!
Hi Jennifer! I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
I’m doing PT for my shoulder. My knee’s healing fine. You don’t realize how much your shoulder interacts with the rest of your body…biomechanics. My range of motion in my shoulder is about 60%. Getting there. I actually went to the ER twice, was admitted to the hospital, discharged and then into a physical rehab facility (that place was AWFUL!). That was about 2 weeks of my life. When I decided to go home, I couldn’t use my arm so had to live on delivery food. I live alone with no family close by and had to have a pet sitter take care of my kitties. Not a pleasant time of my life. I will advise…DON”T EVER BREAK YOUR SHOULDER!
Oh no, so sorry to hear that. I had my shoulder injured during skiing and went to PT for a month after my injury. Mine was nearly as bad as yours, and I’m sorry to hear you had to go through difficult time. 🙁 Hope you will gain the rest of 40% recovery soon! Hang in there and take good care.
Hi Nami,
I’ve been using your site for a while and I just thought I’d leave a comment. I absolutely love this site! Every recipe I’ve tried has been great and it is really helping me utilize otherwise unfamiliar Japanese produce. It’s so nice to have a reliable English reference.
Also, I’m completely in love with this Goya Shiraae!! Whenever I get Goya I usually make your Champuru, but it’s so hot in Tokyo now that I decided to try a salad. My new go to Goya recipe!
Hi Toki! Aww thank you so much for your sweet comment! And you’re in Tokyo! It’s been so hot lately… this salad is definitely a nice change in your goya repertoire. 🙂
I’m really happy to hear you like my recipes and thank you for trying them! Stay cool…