Okinawa’s most iconic Goya Champuru is a bitter melon stir-fry with tofu, egg, and pork belly. This popular savory dish is a truly rustic yet well-balanced meal. You can serve it as your main entree with steamed rice and miso soup on the side.
Goya Champuru (ゴーヤチャンプル) is a popular stir fry dish that came from the sunny island of Okinawa in southern Japan. Made with vibrant green bitter melon, tofu, pork belly, and egg, it is packed with protein and nutrients.
As I am planning my first trip to Okinawa this winter, I am excited to discover many more delicious Okinawan dishes. But first, let me introduce this simple yet absolutely healthy home-cooked dish of Okinawa – Goya Champuru with you.
What is Goya Champuru?
Goya (ゴーヤ) is an Okinawan dialect of Nigauri (にがうり). In English, it’s bitter melon or bitter gourd. As you can probably guess, bitter melon is famous for its bitterness, but it is remarkably nutritious.
Chanpurū (チャンプルー) refers to Okinawan stir-fry dishes, meaning “something mixed” in Okinawan. Stir-fry dishes are a big part of Okinawan cuisine. There are different types of champuru. Usually, it contains tofu with some kind of vegetables, meat, or fish. Common ingredients include spam, pork, egg, bean sprouts, and bitter melon. Spam is not typically used in mainland Japan, but Okinawan cuisine uses spam due to the influence of the US Navy.
Growing up in Yokohama (Tokyo area) between the ’70s and ’90s, Okinawan restaurants were rare to find and I had never had a chance to try Okinawan dishes.
Through the NHK TV drama “Churasan” (ちゅらさん) broadcasted in 2001, many people became interested in Okinawan culture and visited Okinawa on vacation. The popularity of Okinawan food spread all over mainland Japan, and we started seeing more Okinawan restaurants everywhere. Even Japanese housewives started to cook Okinawan dishes at home.
5 Health Benefits of Bitter Melon
- Treats skin conditions. Bitter melon juice has powerful antioxidants with Vitamin C and A, which prevent premature skin aging, diminish wrinkles, reduce acne, and help in treating eczema. The amount of vitamin C in bitter melon is four times more than in lemon and five times more than in tomatoes. Usually, vitamins get lost by being cooked, but not for bitter melon, which is why it’s perfect to cook Goya Champuru
- Lowers bad cholesterol levels. Studies have shown that the juice from bitter melon significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke and keeps the heart healthy.
- Helps maintain blood sugar levels. Studies have also shown that eating bitter melon on a regular basis significantly reduces the blood sugar level for patients suffering from type-1 and type-2 diabetes.
- Prevents cancer. Those bitter flavors contain components that reduce blood sugar levels and cholesterol. Studies have also shown positive correlations between eating bitter melon and preventing or reducing tumor growth in cervical, prostate, and breast cancer patients.
- Boosts your immune system. Bitter melon is a source of many different antioxidants that make it a powerful defense mechanism against illnesses in the body.
How to Choose the Bitter Melon
Bitter melon season in Japan is from July to September. These days, bitter melon is also available at farmers’ markets or Asian grocery stores in the US. For the best taste, choose bitter melon in a relatively smaller size with lots of bumps. The surface should be fresh and shiny green, and you want to pick one that feels firm to the touch.
How to Store the Bitter Melon
To keep bitter melon fresh for a longer time, remove the seeds and pith first as they go bad quickly. Make sure you remove the inner white pith clean as that’s where the bitterness most concentrates. After slicing, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for later use.
How to Reduce Bitterness of the Bitter Melon
I learned to sprinkle some salt, but I also heard that enhances the bitterness instead. Some suggest cooking in lightly salted boiling water, then again I heard the method also causes bitterness. I assume everyone’s grandma suggests different things and you just need to try out the method that works for you. I use the salt method as it draws out moisture with some bitter flavors.
This amazing gourd may have an acquired taste, but there are plenty of good reasons to eat it. In this homey Okinawan stir fry, crunchy crisp bitter melon is combined with soft creamy tofu and cooked in a delicious umami-rich dashi and soy sauce seasoning. It’s truly a healthy and everyday meal you can serve for the family. I’d like you to give it a try.
Do you have any experience cooking with bitter gourd (goya)? What are your favorite ways of cooking with it? How do you remove the bitterness of the gourd? Share with us in the comment below!
Other Bitter Melon Recipe
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Goya Champuru
Video
Ingredients
- 1 bitter melon (8 oz, 227 g)
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for the bitter melon)
- 14 oz medium-firm tofu (momen dofu)
- 6 slices sliced pork belly
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- 2½ Tbsp neutral oil (divided; to fry the tofu, bitter melon, and pork)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
For the Katsuo Dashi
- 3 Tbsp katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) (I use 1 (3 g) packet and more for garnish)
- ¼ cup boiling water (4 Tbsp)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- First, make the katsuo dashi. Add 3 Tbsp katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) into a measuring cup and add ¼ cup boiling water. Let it steep until you’re ready to cook. Right before you start cooking, strain and remove the katsuobushi (you can reserve it to make Homemade Furikake Rice Seasoning). Tip: Alternately, you could use a dashi packet or dashi powder in a pinch or Vegan Dashi for vegan/vegetarian.
- Cut 1 bitter melon in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape out the seeds and inner white pith.
- Thinly slice the bitter melon crosswise about ⅛ inch (3–4 mm) thick. Sprinkle 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and toss well. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wrap 14 oz medium-firm tofu (momen dofu) with a paper towel. Place a heavy flat object, like a cutting board, on top of the tofu to squeeze out the water. I use flat trays to sandwich the tofu and place a marble mortar on top.
- After 10 minutes, quickly rinse the bitter melon with water and drain well. I use a salad spinner to get rid of the moisture easily.
- Cut your 6 slices sliced pork belly into 1½-inch (3.8-cm) pieces.
- Beat 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) in a medium bowl. Now, tear the drained tofu with your hands into bite-size pieces.
To Cook
- Heat a large frying pan and add 1 Tbsp neutral oil. Put the tofu in the pan.
- Try not to touch the tofu frequently. Cook until the tofu is browned and the moisture has evaporated. Transfer to a plate.
- Add 1 Tbsp oil to the same frying pan. Add the bitter melon and spread it out in the pan.
- Sprinkle with 1 pinch kosher salt and stir-fry until almost cooked. Transfer to a plate.
- Add ½ Tbsp oil to the pan and add the pork belly. Season with 1 pinch kosher salt and ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper. Stir-fry until nice and golden brown.
- Add the bitter melon and the tofu back into the frying pan.
- Add the katsuo dashi and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. Let the liquid evaporate while you toss to combine.
- Taste the dish. Add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, if necessary. Use salt to enhance the flavor instead of adding soy sauce.
- Add the beaten eggs to the frying pan and shake it to cook the egg. Once the egg is no longer runny, turn off the heat.
To Serve
- Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with more katsuobushi (bonito flakes). Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
Interestingly, “chanpuru” is not a native Okinawan term but is from Malay/Indonesian campur meaning “to mix”. The Philippines and Mexico also use the word in Champorado/Champurrado which is a rice & chocolate porridge in the Philippines and a corn flour based chocolate drink in Mexico. I can’t imagine when and how the word spread but it’s interesting and shows how our cultures mixed!
Hi Philip! That is VERY interesting and thank you so much for sharing it with us!!!
I cooked the Goya in coconut milk with turmeric and fried onion and served tt with fried white fish.
Hi James! That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your favorite dish! 🙂
YES oh my gosh you have no idea how happy I am right now! This was my favorite dish when I visited Okinawa. I could not get enough of it! The other dishes there were quite unique, but this one stood out to me because I love bittermelon! Thank you so much for posting! I have been eating bittermelon soup all my life, and I find that sometimes boiling it the bittermelon and draining the “bitter” water sometimes helps with the bitterness, but sometimes it doesn’t. It all depends on how the vegetable grows and how bitter it is I guess! I can’t wait to try this out!!!
Hi Theresa! I love this recipe, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I love Goya Champuru when we were in Okinawa this past Christmas. I can’t wait to share our Travel Blog Post with Okinawa recipes in coming months! Hope you enjoy this recipe. xo
This recipe is great when I have a cold or other illness. It’s comforting but not too heavy, & the bitterness of the melon is an advantage because you can actually taste it through a blocked nose. XD
I was just wondering, is there any advantage to breaking the tofu rather than just cutting it? So far I’ve just been cutting it & it seems to work fine.
Hi Liliana! Hahahaha, good point on tasting the bitterness. 🙂 And to answer to your question, cutting is fine. The reason why we tear tofu (sometimes) is that it creates more open surface (space) so that flavors absorb in more. So you can use this technique when you want big chunk of tofu to have more flavors soaked in. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Absolutely delicious! I love bitter melon, and this was another great way to make it; especially with that tofu!
I’ve always gotten rid of the bitterness in bitter melon by salting and letting it rest for ~30 minutes before squeezing the extra moisture out. Then all the salt can be rinsed off. It’s really good stir fried with egg and tomato.
Hi Danica! I’m so glad to hear you liked this recipe. I love this recipe so much too. I keep dreaming about cooking this dish for the past 3 weeks. I need to test recipes, so I haven’t got around to cook this yet. 😀 Thanks for sharing your tip with us!
Hi Nami! I tried out this recipe last night, and it was very delicious! I think my family really enjoyed it because all of it was gone by the end of the night (except the small bit I saved for lunch). I didn’t use dashi made from katsuobushi; instead I used korean stock that I made from kombu, anchovies, shiitakes, and other ingredients because I was also making a hot pot for dinner. I’m so happy to have found a new way to prepare bittermelon! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Hi Krystine! I’m so happy to hear you liked Goya Champuru. I’ve been craving this dish for sometime now… I love how fulfilling it is (I try not to eat too much rice these days haha). Oh yeah, Korean dashi is delicious and definitely works for this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Nam!
I love bitter melon – thanks for this recipe, your descriptions, and clear demo/instructions. I substituted the pork with fishcake (I know it’s not the same without the pork belly) and it came out wonderfully savory with great textures.
Hi Dre! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. I love the fishcake in goya champuru! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I like to stuff goya rings with mixture of pork and glass noodles then throw into soup of carrots, mushroom and coriander and cook. It is a easy one pot dish popular in the Thailand and Cambodia. https://youtu.be/ERw-KL9XyoU
Hi Joyce! I know the dish you’re talking about and I’ve tried it before, so delicious!!!
Hi, Nami! I am an avid fan of yours from Manila.
We have lots of bitter melon (ampalaya in Filipino word) here in the Philippnes.
I usually cook this by sauteing garlic, onion, fresh tomatoes, fresh shirmps (shell removed), fish sauce and beaten eggs (last part of ccoking). I did not boil or add salt to the bitter melon prior to cooking, just put them straight to the pan. My Dad said to always put a smile in your face to avoid the bitter taste and it always works!! – Loida
Hi Loida! Thank you for following my blog! I didn’t know about bitter melon eaten in the Philippines but now I know! It sounds really delicious! I have to try Filipino version next time. Your dad is AWESOME! 🙂
Fantastic! I know very little about Okinawan cooking so your recipes to come will add real interest to my culinary life! Bitter melon not easy to get but shall persist! On the positive side the Okinawans lead such a long and healthy life! How they can do it with spam still in the cupboards [and, yes, I knew that was the case!] is just beyond my comprehension 🙂 !
Hi Eha! Me too, I’m not familiar. When I left Japan, Okinawan food wasn’t as popular as now and I didn’t get to try many foods then. Maybe the secret of their longevity is bitter gourd. 😉
I didn’t know that Japanese people also like to eat bitter melon! It’s also a popular vegetable in Southern China. My mom used to stir fry it with eggs. So delicious. But my hubby and sons don’t like it at all because they were born in the US.
Hi Jessie! Well, it was only available and enjoyed in Okinawa when I was growing up in Japan. Nowadays we can buy bitter melon in the mainland too with better transportation and people’s needs. We can eat okinawan food in restaurants too, which we didn’t have 20+ years ago. 🙂 Stir fry is delicious! I’d love to eat Chinese dish with bitter melon!
Nami,
For a Chinese version, prepare the bittermelon for stir fry and make a ground pork mixture consisting of oyster sauce, soy sauce shao shing, minced ginger, a touch of shrimp paste and a scant pinch of brown sugar. Stir fry with black bean/garlic sauce and crushed red pepper to taste. You can also stuff cored bittermelon rounds with the sausage mixture and steam or boil them a la Vietnamese Cahn Ko Qua.
As usual, you’re at the top of my go-to list for Asian cuisine! Thanks!
Hi Lo Fan Don! Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge with us!
I am going to Okinawa at the end of the year too! Do you have any recs?
Hi Skye! It’s my first time too, and I asked on FB. Here you can see lots of suggestions my readers provided.
https://www.facebook.com/justonecookbook/posts/1549319735125264
We in Asia use bittergourd a lot in our cooking and we like to keep the bittergourd bitterness intact! Afterall, that’s where the antioxidants are concentrated. At most, the gourd slices ( some pith removed) are blanched quickly in boiling water … under 10 seconds at most. A quick stir fry with chopped garlic and fried eggs and voila.. the bitterness is celebrated 🙂
Hi Ling! Yeah I think we (Asians in general) are used to various type of flavors, including bitter ones or fermented flavors and all that “interesting” taste. Bitterness don’t bother me knowing that it’s the original taste of it too. We must embrace bitterness to enjoy the dish. 🙂
When I was studying abroad in Japan, my friends and I took a trip to Iriomote in Okinawa. We got to try a lot of different kinds of champuru. I ended up buying a cute stuffed cat and named it Champuru-chan. It’s now my 2 year old son’s toy and he loves “Champu-chan”. Thanks for the memories!
Hi Jackie! That is the cutest story I heard about food memory! One day you can introduce Champuru to him. Hopefully he will enjoy eating bitter melon that way. 😀 And how fun to try different kinds of champuru. Hope I can get to do that this winter!
Ive been wanting to try bitter melon for awhile because it is supposed to be good for diabetes. Tried this recipe today for my lunch. That’s a powerful taste! I think I need to look for more ways to reduce the bitterness. I don’t mind too much, but my husband is especially sensitive to bitter and tart flavors. It is also interesting reading the comments to see how other people cook it.
Hi Catherine! It is an acquired taste and some people eat it for a long time that they may not feel that much. People use all kinds of way to reduce the bitterness. Japanese is usually salt or blanch method. 🙂
Looks interesting! It is making me rethink trying bitter melon again.. I had it once before but it was rather unpleasant..
I am definitely looking forward to seeing more Okinawan dishes from you in the future!
Hi Emy! If you are willing to try bitter melon one more time, I would like you to try this recipe. The key is having a nice char taste (for me). If you don’t mind use more oil to make the tofu, bitter melon, and pork belly crispy. It brings so much flavor (to hide bitterness) and tofu + egg makes the bitter taste mild eating all together. SO delicious. If you still dislike bitter melon, then at least you tried this iconic dish. 😉 I will try other Okinawan dishes after my trip!