Spicy Sichuan Bitter Melon Stir-Fry with Shrimp

I really thought this was a bitter melon. It started growing in my garden. Actually, it just appeared mysteriously on a vine one morning, after presumably spending at least a couple days hiding under some leafy vines on my trellis.

I had planted bitter melon, but I’d also planted zucchini and other kinds of summer squash and melons. So I had no idea what was winding its way up my stakes.

It really looks like bitter melon, doesn’t it? When you cut it open there are even these seeds like bitter melon. So I salted it to draw out the supposed bitterness and then stir-fried it with Sichuan peppercorns, spinach, soy sauce and shrimp.

It was so not bitter. Actually, it was more somewhere between an Asian melon and a western zucchini in texture. Whatever. It was delicious. I didn’t need to salt it, really.

But most bitter melon sure needs salting. So here’s the recipe for a bitter melon stir-fry—for everyone who doesn’t have strange vegetables magically appear in their community gardens.

Spicy Sichuan Bitter Melon Stir-Fry with Shrimp

4 bitter melon
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp high-heat oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small, red chili pepper, diced
1 tbsp soy sauce (I used gluten-free soy sauce)
1/8 tsp turmeric, optional
1 cup Nordic or other sustainable shrimp
2 cups spinach

Slice bitter melons in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds. Slice widthwise into 1/4″ half moons. Toss with salt in a bowl or colander. Leave for 30 minutes.

Toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a dry skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until aromatic. Transfer to a spice grinder, mortar and pestle or coffee grinder and grind to a powder.

Rinse the bitter melon and drain. Heat over over medium-high heat in a wok or large skillet. When hot, add the garlic. Cook 30 seconds. Add the chili pepper. Cook 30 seconds more. Add the bitter melon and toss to combine. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add a tablespoon of water if the mixture starts to stick. Add the ground Sichuan peppercorns, soy sauce, turmeric, shrimp and spinach. Stir 1 1/2 minutes more, until shrimp is no longer translucent and spinach has wilted. (Baby spinach cooks in seconds, so if you use it instead of regular spinach, toss it in after you take the wok off the heat.)

Taste and add more soy sauce if necessary. Serve with rice.