Bitter Melon and Beef

An excellent dish. I always like beef, and the sauce made with bitter melon and black beans is truly excellent, giving it a very heavy flavor. Not really that bitter, more like a "vegetably" taste that goes well with the meaty taste of beef. I always eat this with rice, and plenty of green tea. This is a dinner dish. It is almost a guaranteed order for me when I eat at a Chinese restaurant. I've never actually made this myself, but my grandmother has a good recipe, and my mum makes it all the time.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound of good steak, sliced
• 2 medium-size bitter melons, about 10 oz. (if you can't find it, look in Chinatown)
• 1 tablespoon of black beans, washed, drained and slightly crushed
• 6 tablespoons of oil
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder

Cooking

1. Marinate the beef in a mixture of 2.5 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of sherry, and 2 tablespoons of starch
2. Cut the bitter melons in two, lengthwise, and de-seed them. Slice them. Add the salt, mix it up, let it stand for 10 mintues then wash.
3. Add the baking powder to some boiling water. Parboil the melon to medium softness. Run cold water over the melon then put it aside.
4. Heat the oil in a semi-heated wok (not too hot), stir-fry the black beans for 30 seconds or so. Toss in the melons, stir-fry it some more.
5. Remove the stuff from the wok and wash it. Put in the oil and heat it up. Stir-fry the beef until nearly cooked. Toss in the beans and the melons and continue stir-frying until it is well-cooked.
6. Serve it up, along with tea. The fragrance of the tea goes with the semi-bitterness of this dish, and rice goes with the sauce.