Aloguinsan Ampalaya Salad (PHOTO BY BOBOI COSTAS)
I’ve always disliked ampalaya for its bitter taste. And then I found out it’s the bitter taste of ampalaya that’s actually good for the body.
In fact, many companies have been using ampalaya as main ingredient in food supplements or herbal teas. Ampalaya’s great health benefits are acknowledged by many doctors and accepted by the Department of Health (DOH). In one study, according to the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, the average rise in blood sugar levels of diabetic patients taking ampalaya supplements were lower than those patients watching their diet alone.
Ampalaya (bitter gourd or bitter melon) is a plant abundant in many places in Asia, South Africa and South America. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I prefer cooking ampalaya sauted in garlic and onions with beaten egg. I’m often told that it helps lower blood sugar and maintains a healthy system.
A Chinese friend once told me that his grandfather included ampalaya in his daily diet to cleanse his system.
All the while I’m like many who think ampalaya is a vegetable since we cook and serve it during a meal. Well, I just learned that ampalaya is a melon, so that makes it a fruit. From the bitter taste is its medicinal value—the presence of the substance called momorcidin. Ampalaya contains a mixture of flavanoids and alkaloids which makes the pancreas produce insulin which controls the blood sugar in diabetics.
But ampalaya is an excellent source of nutrients, too. You get twice the calcium of spinach, twice the potassium of banana, twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, manganese, zinc, folic acid, alkaloids, fiber, phosphorus and vitamins A,B,C, than most vegetables and fruits. All it takes is one ampalaya daily along with every meal for about two months to keep your diabetes from advancing, and hopefully reverse it just as fast.
There’s a way to cook ampalaya that lessens its bitter taste. Simply remove the seeds, cut it in thin slices and cover it with salt. Let it stand for 30 minutes, then squeeze out the liquid and rinse the fruit.
I’d like to share a simple recipe which I got from my travel to Aloguinsan, the town in midwest Cebu famous for its ecotourism project. This was shared to me by Manang Linda Gimenez, the esteemed cook at the community association BAETAS which runs the river cruise with lunch buffet.
ALOGUINSAN AMPALAYA SALAD
Ampalaya (PHOTO BY BOBOI COSTAS)
Ingredients:
½ kilo ampalaya
3 tomatoes, sliced diagonally, seeded
1 medium-sized onion, sliced diagonally
2-inch ginger, julienned
1 whole medium carrot, julienned
200 ml organic coconut vinegar
1/8 cup sugar
Procedure:
1. Remove seeds and white flesh from ampalaya. Slice thinly and cover with salt. Leave for 15 to 30 minutes. Squeeze ampalaya to extract the bitter juice and discard it. Rinse the squeezed ampalaya three times in running water and set aside.
2. Mix sugar and vinegar until sugar dissolves. The taste should bring out the sourness more than the sweetness.
3. Pour the vinegar mixture to tomatoes, onion, ginger and carrots. Mix well and finally add the ampalaya. Toss well.