The Full Bitter Melon Experience! - Growing, Harvesting, and Tasting from My Garden

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Today we'll be growing Bitter Melon, also called bitter gourd from seed to harvest, exploring the interesting plants as we go, then harvesting the fruits at different stages before cooking and giving them a taste.
We'll also discover the orange stage of these fruits including the red fleshy arils around the seeds.
These unique fruits which are also know as Balsam pear, Bitter squash, African cucumber, Ampalaya, Foo gwa, Mara or karavila, are a nutritious and unique vegetable used in many different dishes. They grow on a vine that does well in subtropical and tropical climates, but can also be grown during the Summer season of warm temperate climates.
They're fun to grow and make for an interesting surprise in the garden that will provide you with a unique taste experience and nutritious food.
I hope you enjoy the journey of growing bitter melons from start to finish with me :)
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VIDEO SUGGESTIONS FOR YOU:
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• Chinese Bitter Melon R...
References:
www.researchgate.net/profile/...
www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltex...
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www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/co...
www.phytojournal.com/archives...
Books I've enjoyed and found helpful:
Grafting and Budding: A Practical Guide for Fruit and Nut Plants and Ornamentals
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Hi, I'm Kalem, and this channel features all sorts of unusual and exotic fruiting plants with tips of how to successfully grow them. I'm interested in all things gardening and love growing my own food and all types of edible plants.
I live on a 2 acre piece of land in New Zealand where we are turning a grass paddock into and abundant, edible paradise and food forest! So come along on this journey with me as I experiment with growing, and try to push the limits of what I can grow. I'll share with you my successes and failures so hopefully you'll learn from them and have a go yourself! Come learn with me and Subscribe to join this awesome community :)
0:00 Intro
0:37 Starting the seeds
1:08 Planting seedlings & building trellis
3:28 Giving seaweed fertilizer
3:48 Plant growth & flowers
6:01 Baby bitter melons forming
6:23 Harvesting bitter melons
7:01 Cooking with bitter melon
8:41 Taste test
9:34 Orange fruits and red arils
11:26 Traditional medicine
Disclaimer - Some of the links above may be affiliate links where I earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you - Thank you for your support!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Business inquires: thekiwigrower@gmail.com

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Опубликовано:

22 май 2024

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Комментарии : 307

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Hey guys, thanks for watching! To see me grow some more cool fruits, check out this video here :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1u1DbPL8wzo.html Hope you're all doing well. -Kalem

@MitchK_ Год назад

Hope you're doing well too, Kalem! Thanks for sharing and posting all the cool facts about the Bitter Melon and the similarities other plants have with it! I love learning all these fascinating things plants can do🌱 🌍

@Madhankumar-ev8hr Год назад

The nightmare of my life, I hate eating it but my brother likes it

@runar4993 Год назад

Do you know kiwanos? I had a few plants and these grew so incredibly fast in Belgium

@andrewgoodbody2121 Год назад

S great to see you on tictok too, been following you since before you got all buff 😂

@siedaferdous8072 Год назад

Please do QnA video

@jenniferk6697 Год назад

You have to be the most organized person ever to keep track of all your growing from seed projects that take months and years.

@gruseph Год назад

He is a npc I don't think he is real. Bro was the first chatgpt

@davidhoyt9835 2 месяца назад

I found this interesting and fun. Thanks! I was introduced to the bitter melon (the Chinese variety) several years ago by both a Malaysian friend and a Taiwanese colleague. I love it! I usually stir fry the melon with oyster sauce and some onion. It's a great side dish to other Asian foods. Bitter melon is also good in scrambled eggs. I like bitter taste; much like Italian broccoli rabe. I grew it easily in Connecticut (USA) but now that I live in south Florida (USA) it's even easier and it really thrives in our sandy, alkaline "soil" (like beach sand, truly). I have long followed your channel here and enjoy your informative and entertaining production. Thanks, mate!

@tonyskitchenreal Год назад

I'm always so hyped when i see a new Upload of you Kalem! We all know that means quality time! Thank you for your effort and all the time you are spending to make those videos. ☀️🌴

@shantim7740 Год назад

I loved this so much, bitter melons (called karela in hindi) are something we had when I was growing up in India but I didn't like them as a kid! I love when I find them in beggie markets in NZ, my main way of cooking them is with lots of tomatoes and garlic, sauted untils it's soft and almost... caramelisted. Sometimes I'd add a bit of golden syrup or date syrup to add some sweetness to the dish

@MuddasirShah 18 дней назад

As a kid I used to stay hungry when mum cooked these. Now they’re my favourite. Here’s my mum’s recepie. Try it and you’ll love it absolutely. 1. Cut into thin pieces (exactly as you did) 2. Sprinkle salt and then rinse 3. Slightly fry them, take them out from oil like french fries 4. Cut onion, fry that in fresh oil until the turn golden brown. I repeat don’t use the same oil from step 3. 5. Now add the half friend gourd to the onions. Sprinkle salt to taste. Add chicken if you’re not a vegetarian. (Slightly fry chicken before with little salt) 6. Add 2 green chillies don’t cut them. 7. Let them cook and then serve with roti 🫓 Amazing taste, after ladyfinger this is my second fav dish ❤

@happymusics 11 месяцев назад

I grew to really like these bitter melons after adulthood because it reminded me of childhood. These go great with pre-stir fried beef which is added in to the cooked bitter melon w/ garlic & black beans. Make a light sauce at the end with water , soy sauce & corn starch to mix in all the flavors.

@daveking-sandbox9263 Год назад

I use theses all the time in my salads. They are great for keeping your insulin levels down, Great for type two diabetics 🙂

@ChiefofSinnersThoughIBe Год назад

Diabetics have a problem producing/absorbing insulin and typically need more than produced by their body.

@SuperSasky Год назад

In the Caribbean the leaves are often boiled and drunk to help with diabetes control and other wise

@amano6979 Год назад

I eat them when I lost my appetite. yes they're bitter but any foods you eat after that taste good. but that also depend on how you prepare them, if you not used to how it taste you can expect nuisance for a half day😅

@michelle76678 8 месяцев назад

So true i make juice from it@@SuperSasky

@HmunmawiiVanchhawng 5 месяцев назад

and Neem leaves as well

@7tonton 4 месяца назад

Add bitten egg during cooking then eat with steamed rice. Yum!

@jackdaniels4547 Год назад

the sheep in the bamboo forest shot in the background was nice ❤️

@AleshaOpry Год назад

Stir-fried Bitter Gourd with Egg very delicious 😋😋

@coenvore1675 Год назад

Some of the best videos on the platform!

@sarah_farm 5 месяцев назад

My grandmother grew up in the countryside of the state of Virgi,. She and my great-grandmother used to make pig feet in the oven. It's awesome to see how others on the other side of the globe in a different culture make them. And it's an honor to have you visit our channel, we can discuss more about our experiences in harvesting and building farms.

@XLittleXRed Год назад

So interesting, and good to know they can be grown here in NZ! I enjoyed eating them in Okinawa, saw a few other people mention their dish goya champuru, it's a very nice way to eat bitter melon I found :) Another very interesting ingredient you can try in Okinawa is sea grapes!

@sayedsheik4722 11 месяцев назад

Hi Kalem, Than you so much for the amazing and educational videos over the years! 🙂Haven't seen any new videos the past few months, hope you have some great content to share. Hope you and everyone else there are well.

@gopalsamant2099 9 месяцев назад

In a stir fry we generally add some jaggery to it and another optional addition can be roasted peanut powder. It compliments the bitterness well. Also you can cut it into circular discs and make crispy chips in a air fryer or oven.

@williamng708 Год назад

You can deep-fry the bitter melon and then cook with the salty egg York ! Super delicious ❤

@rodneylane7640 Год назад

That was professional, informative and highly entertaining... In fact up to your usual standard. Its obvious from how well these are put together just how much effort goes into making these videos. Thanks for the great content and looking forward to the next one.

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Cheers Rodney!

@LuqmanAbdullahMohammed3005 Год назад

🇹🇹 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 🇹🇹 we call that carillie... You can stir fry it but what we do is cut it up nice and thin and salt it and put it out in the sun to dry a bit so that the bitterness can be reduced before cooking .. it can be cooked with some salted fish or any meat of choice ...

@annhans3535 Год назад

Always learning so much from you. Bitter melons are one of my fav veggies. I normally slice them and soak them with salt to get some of the bitterness out. The dark green ones are really bitter. Squeeze the extra liquid out and wash the slices out and squeeze some more. Leave to dry overnight to dry it out in open air. Salute in onions, garlic and pepper and lots of tomatoes. Salute really well. The green ones might need some water added to steam them well. Eat with rice. It takes time to get used to eating it but after a while you will like it. And in the Caribbean we put small tiny shrimp in it and fry it up. It's even more delicious that way. Never had it when it turned yellow.

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Thanks for the tips!

@zeeblez Год назад

You can take a look at a Japanese dish called "goya chanpuru" - which is a bitter melon stir-fry. Pretty good, cos you can end up adding onions, scrambled eggs & shreded pork - and goes well on top of steamed rice

@tortron Год назад

We have something similar everytime we go to my inlaws

@GuagoFruit Год назад

If you can add some dashi and a mashed up salted egg in it, it's even better.

@FUGGLEmose Год назад

Filipinos have a similar dish!

@JoinInDiscussion 10 месяцев назад

Hi, Bitter Gauard is very good for diabetes. I rub salt on these and leave it for few hours to take the extra bitterness out before cooking. You can also air fry them instead of stir frying.

@naumikaur7459 10 месяцев назад

Very interesting, love these and also managed to grow them last 2 years in the UK. I do find that almost all the recipes I am used to ( tasted growing up) have some intense flavours masking the bitterness to some extent. My absolute favourite is everything u had in your recipe plus sautéed onion and tomatoes. Start with oil onion garlic ginger ,add onion and when it’s brown add tomatoes . When the6 go soft add Bitter melon and cook till soft. Thank u for this amazing video.

@seanjamescameron Год назад

They certainly looks fascinating.

@CathyCawood Месяц назад

I live in Japan, and bitter melon is popular in summer here. There is a dish from Okinawa called goya champuru which has tofu, egg and bitter melon, and I make that fairly often. But my favorite way to eat it is thinly sliced on pizza. I think the bitter flavor goes well with cheese and tomato. I'm just about to try growing it on my apartment balcony for the first time. It may be too windy, but it's worth a try.

@PhearomLs 8 месяцев назад

My favorite fruits and vegetables I always plants and harvesting this and vegetables too And thanks for sharing this great techniques to me ❤❤

@EvannaLily123 2 месяца назад

Two weeks ago I saw this fruit/vegetable (the green one) in an oriental supermarket and there was no sign or anything telling you what it was etc. Now I stumbled across your channel and this video in particular and know what it is. So I just wanted to say thank you😊 Greetings from Europe🌍

@glenaspeslagh6114 3 месяца назад

Thank you for this video. I will try growing this plant myself; you’ve inspired me

@rockstarthegamer8202 3 месяца назад

Your plants are good

@BeeBlot 9 месяцев назад

This was great! I wound up with some this year, didn't do anything special beyond the initial soil amendments and they are very happy. I clicked on this because you discuss the ripe fruit. Thanks for sharing!

@insaf_ 10 месяцев назад

Very well put together.

@nazimchowdhury7307 26 дней назад

One of my favourite vegetable. Cook with onions. Fry the onions until golden brown, and then add garlic, tumeric, chilly. the sweetness of the caramelised onion counter balances the bitterness.

@matthewjamestaylor Год назад

I love your videos. Thanks for sharing. Cheers.

@yilengyang3325 Год назад

Wonderful

@nicolasvandermerwe9628 Год назад

Great video love the work

@nasreenfatima4085 8 месяцев назад

Appreciate your efforts

@hopefullyhigh Год назад

Kind of off topic but also central to your whole channel, I have a guava seedling thats probably 3 weeks old at this point. I know its just a plant but the long germination time and high humidity to start it kind of intimidated me at first but your channel really helped show me how much wasnt just possible but easily attainable. Thank you for sharing and inspiring me, i can't wait to eat my own freshly harvested guavas 😋

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Thant's awesome, hope it keeps growing well! :)

@rosinazaidiart7500 Год назад

Such a lovely video will be griwing these in the UK

@suzclarke Год назад

Calaica.... childhood memories of the Honduran in my life 🥛

@aidancroft8881 Год назад

Always a treat, Kalem! Hope things are going well 💞💞💞

@victoriachap4560 Год назад

They are delicious pickled!!! Kinda of reminds me of olive.

@palestine2795 Год назад

Just got to work. Cannot wait to watch this on my break. Looking forward to it now even more now.

@JenniferA886 Год назад

Nice vid… 👍👍👍

@cherylwin9364 3 месяца назад

THE GREEN BITTER MELON TASTE LIKE EAR WAX….🤣😂🤣

@cobnick Год назад

It’s so nice to finally see a new video from you!

@nasreenfatima4085 8 месяцев назад

My most favorite vegetable

@deanndenny27 3 месяца назад

excellent

@ashpjangde Год назад

One recipe I suggest. Slit the bitter gourd to make it like a pouch, fill pickle spices in it then knot thin threads to it. Fry till it become almost black. It really tastes good.

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Thanks for the idea! :)

@FizzyFang Год назад

I love these types of videos

@amysteggles Год назад

Thanks for the inspiring content!

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Thanks so much for the support Amy, I really appreciate it! :)

@perkyowl3792 Год назад

Mate you never disappoint

@huyt285 Год назад

One of my favorites vegetable to eat, whether it’s stirred fried or in soup.

@ANAJASADVENTURESLIFEINUK 7 месяцев назад

I love this vegetable and I grow also in my greenhouse, the leaves you can make salad also.

@JulianJP21 Год назад

Year by year always great...... very thanks Man 👍💪 i hope to see more videos like a past year!!

@lm-hf3gd Год назад

Must be extraordinary to live in the Garden of Eden.....where so many extraordinary plants can be grown......

@gardenwitheden Год назад

That's my channel name 😅 I'm in the same country as Kalem (New Zealand)

@lynnvasquez4425 6 месяцев назад

I love bitter gourd. I always plant all year here in my garden in Brazil

@CarlosAlejandro.-ke6gr Год назад

Im building my house and next to my house there is an overgrown plot of land, i literally can't stop this weird cucumber plant to grow around the steel rebar of my house columns. Its crazy how fast it grows back.

@deanndenny27 3 месяца назад

I am from Guyana, South America

@victoryinhim9689 10 месяцев назад

Love to see a new video 😊😊😊

@Fingerboarderz23 Год назад

Nice video

@generrosity Год назад

Nice knot work 👌 always good vids

@eddiethinhvuong1607 Год назад

I'm from Vietnam, and I absolutely adore bittermelon. There are two types that I know, the normal one and the "forest" one. The latter is much much bitter, and it's also my favourite. Stir-fried bittermelon with beaten eggs Bittermelon stuffed pork soup Fridged raw bittermelon with shredded pork Are all go for dish, experiement them if you will. They are all super delicious 😁 Edit: Your type in the video is what we call forest bittermelon

@maxineventham7397 7 месяцев назад

❤😊

@L0neNin Год назад

Cool

@chrisbuchanan6304 Год назад

Cool video, Ill watch it later!😮

@pelenaka 9 месяцев назад

Thank you for this video. 1st Summer growing Okinawan Bitter Melon 8n American Zone 3/4. It's been a wet & smog filled (Canadian Wildfires) garden season. I have so far harvested 2 Melons. I'm planning on dehydrating then pondering for use in smoothies. Hopefully it's as good as I heard for Diabetes. I had no idea I can use leaves & roots.

@altafhasen4739 9 месяцев назад

The are my favorite if cooked right. The best way to salt treat the half moons is to leave them salted for a few hours and then repeat the process making sure to squeeze them dry. Then after frying them add a good amount of chopped tomatoes and fry the mixture until tomatoes become a paste and bitter melons start to get a little golden brown. Best enjoyed on a sandwich or with a flatbread. You can also cook this recipe with minced meat in it,

@MySinglemom 8 месяцев назад

Wow, I love your ideas! I love bitter melon or what we call ampalaya where I grew up. I love eating the leaves with chicken soup.

@Alaysia-bi6rl Год назад

Upload more love your videos

@abdulkhaliqghiasi Год назад

very nice

@MitchK_ Год назад

Yes, another video! So glad to see you post a video, I was worried for a bit.😅 Love all these awesome plants man

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Cheers Mitch, yeah was a bit of a break!

@asm5987 Год назад

Wonrderful !!! It is great to grow fruits and vegetables in New Zealand , in the north of France it is more difficult.... Best Regards !

@rampatel3408 Год назад

Love your videos bro😊. 👍

@simplysimple7628 Год назад

One of my favorites. My kids like them too. Very good for you. We love them in any pork dish. I saute some pork with lots of garlic, onion and eggplant. I like to blanch the bittermelon in a separate pot of boiling water for about ten minutes or until tender. Drain the water, and add it to the pan of pork and eggplants. I’d even go as far as saying that this simple dish is my top 3 all time foods👍🏼😋😋 So ono with hot rice. Also the young shoots of the vines can be eaten also. Add to soups. Love them🙏🏼

@Braihei 2 месяца назад

I love to eat bitter melon, it's good for health.

Год назад

You are a very good RU-vidr. ❤

@316Studios31 Год назад

Literally stared growing these the day before you posted this vidio

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Awesome, good luck with them!

@DonisP. Год назад

This looks like Asosi in Haïti. The leaves are used in a tincture. Also infused with homemade moonshine to battle all sorts of ailments.

@NotSpicyNotYummy Год назад

One of my favourite vegetable. We roast it in charcoal then turn it into a salad with onion tomatoes chillies salt en pepper and a little vinegar. Or sauté it like how you did just add cherry tomatoes then when half done pour in beaten eggs. Filipinos favourite dish. 🎉

@raveraxx Год назад

It's pretty common here in India. Love your videos

@thaik7474 Год назад

If you can,please show us how you treat the pragues in yours trees. I have this problem and i'm losing so many trees because of them. Sending love from Brazil 💛💚

@fernandoferdinand4866 10 месяцев назад

Supersubstantial and healthy food. My dad used to grow those in our garden and would naked us kids eat it either raw as a salad or sautéed with either pork, chicken, beef, or shrimp...yum!!..❤🌟🇨🇦🙏👍

@serenityq26 11 месяцев назад

Love bitter foods

@moni_som Год назад

Karela /bitter gaurd is our family favourite vegetable ...my parents were shocked when they realised we their kids love it .most of the kid hate because of its bitter taste ....but we love it

@mouayandrews8515 Год назад

I love bittermelon. I eat the leaves too.

@fallenangel14_ Год назад

Being filipino, this is one of my favorite vegetables. I also like stirfrying it with eggs, tomatoes, ground meats or even canned tuna..

@nildaotero2933 Год назад

Very interesting video. We have a way smaller (cundeamor) version in Puerto Rico. I remember sucking on the sweet seeds of the ripe fruit as a child.

@hongbeaven4020 21 день назад

I usually cut it in cylindrical round and stuff them with ground pork or chicken and spices, cook them in chicken broth, yumm

@peterpain6625 Год назад

Those look really interesting. Really want to try them now. But i suppose you need so scrape deeper into the inner. Like getting all the white stuff out? Imagining them with some Onion added to the Garlic and chilli for a rounder taste. Thanks for sharing!

@randallnguyen7405 11 месяцев назад

I recommend making a popular vietnamese dish: Bitter melon soup. It's really good.

@demitv001 Год назад

In Jamaica we have a plant similar to this one called Cerasee. The fruits and leaves look the same. Only difference is that the ones here, their fruits are smaller. We use the plant here as a medicinal herb to make tea.

@OurFamily- 8 месяцев назад

Its the same plant. There are a bunch of different varieties smaller bigger more warts less warts etc.

@pinayladyoz8044 7 месяцев назад

We Filipinos cook bitter melon in many ways. I wish you add 2 beaten eggs with your bitter melon when you sauté it. Filipinos use the young leaves of the bitter melon for soup. We also mix bitter Mellon with eggs or prawns and we also make that into bitter melon salad. If you don't like bitter melon sell it to Asians as most Asians love Bitter melon.

@TakeAMomentAndBreath 8 месяцев назад

Hey Kaylem, kio ora from Tassie. Great video. 👍🏽 I subscribe, bro

@mamtajaya6457 Год назад

Hi brother. If you add lots of onion , it get sweeter and very tasty. I love the seeds cooked together. I eat with rice or tortillas

@rebiecamara8670 8 месяцев назад

You're so cute growing bitter melon which alot don't know about but famous to Asian. You can add eggs on it. It's nice and delicious.

@PeterEntwistle Год назад

They are really cool-looking Kalem, I'm sure there are some good recipes out there for it. I noticed you have some banana plants growing in the background, I would love to see a video about them 😉

@andrewfong4216 10 месяцев назад

Nice. Traditionally Chinese people cook it with black bean and garlic sauce. Also goes well with a little pork. I'm attempting to grow them this year, too.

@benburns5995 Год назад

Hi Kalem, thanks for this great video of growing Bitter Melon seeds from start to harvest. I have never heard of this type of fruit so it was very informative. I must say that with only 4 plants you sure had quite a few Bitter Melons to harvest. Hopefully you will find a way to make use of your harvest. The dark Green color and bumpy texture was sure different. I wonder if you would have less of a problem with bugs eating them with the bitterness of the fruit. They actually look more appetizing when they turn orange with the bright red seeds inside. The red seeds remind me of Pomegranate seeds, similar color. I live in Northwest Indiana so we are just started Spring and heading into Summer. Looking forward to starting my own garden.

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Cheers Ben! Enjoy the Summer and starting your new garden :)

@spriteespritee1237 Год назад

I watch your videos just to hear that nice Kiwi accent😂.Love it☺️

@jamesjacks9169 Год назад

I second the comment below however, I was taught a Filipino recipe with pork belly and scrambled egg. I like to add ginger and tumeric as well. I also adapted it to a fried rice dish using any leftovers from the refrigerator with scrambled egg. It can be a very well-balanced dish using all the five attributes (salt, sour, bitter, sweet and umami.)

@mabuhayPinay 7 месяцев назад

Great idea for fried rice! I'll try this some time.

@damianrhea8875 Год назад

Thank you !!! Your this crop of Indian bitter melons are beautiful ! Indeed, bitter melon incites different extreme opinions about it - either love it or hate it. I know indigenous Asians who hate it and westerners who love it. It is almost an acquired taste. It is great in curry - soupy or stew-like or dry, Thai or Indian, coconut-milk-based or tomato-and-masala, etc.; Chinese cook it in soup, stir fry with different fermented pastes, summer cold salad, etc.; Japanese love it in a very famous Okinawa dish of sauté with egg and Spam (!); etc.. Try them! Bitter melon is weird - indeed - and fun and great.

@peterpain6625 Год назад

Coconut... for sure. As a kind of "counterweight" to the heavy sweetness of the coconut i can imagine this to taste great. Thanks.

@TheKiwiGrower Год назад

Thanks that's great to know :)

@damianrhea8875 Год назад

@@TheKiwiGrower You are very welcome! Your videos are very fun and great!