Goya Champuru : Bitter Melon & Spam Stir-Fry

Goya Champuru（ゴーヤチャンプルー）

What kind of dish is Goya Champuru??

A dish originating in Okinawa that uses goya, tofu, spam, and eggs. It is sometimes called tofu champuru. “Champuru” means “Mix” in the Okinawan dialect.

There are many recipes that use goya, but goya is often avoided due to its unique flavor. Goya Champuru has a relatively mild bitterness, so even beginners can easily eat it. Therefore, it has become a nationwide “summer side dish that goes well with rice”.

Spam is not very popular in Japan, but spam is commonly used in Okinawan cuisine due to the influence of the US Navy. It’s also delicious if you use ham or pork instead of spam.

What kind of food is Goya??

Goya is also called another name “nigauri” in Japanese. The English name for Goya is bitter melon or bitter gourd. It has a bitter taste, so it can be said that it is a taste that adults like.

The fruits are long, spindle-shaped, and have bumps on the epidermis. It is said that the bigger the bump, the less bitterness.

And goya is excellent in terms of nutrition. Goya contains 75mg of vitamin C per 100g. This is more than the vitamin C content in 100g of lemon juice.

The season is from June to August. Bitter melon can be cooked in a variety of ways, including fried, vinegared, and stir-fried.

NUTRITION FACTS of Japanese Goya Champuru : Bitter Melon & Spam Stir-Fry

TOTAL NUTITION VALUE

• 836 Calories
• Protein 58.8 g
• Total Fat 56.1 g
• Total Carbohydrates 30.1 g
• Sodium 9.7 g

INGREDIENTS forJapanese Goya Champuru : Bitter Melon & Spam Stir-Fry (5SERVINGS)

• Firm tofu 300g
• Goya 200g(Amount after removing seeds.)
• Spam 100g
• 2 Eggs
• Oil 5g
• ☆Sake 20g
• ☆Salt 1g
• ☆Light soy sauce 15g
• ☆Dark soy sauce 15g
• ☆Mirin 10g
• ☆Pepper moderate amount
• ☆Dashi stock granules 3g
• Bonito flakes 6g

How To Make Japanese Goya Champuru : Bitter Melon & Spam Stir-Fry

1. Place the tofu on a plate and heat it in the microwave for 1 minute.
2. Pat the tofu dry with a paper towel. Leave the tofu wrapped in the paper towel while cooking the other steps.
3. Cut the goya in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and “wata”. “Wata” is the white, soft part inside the goya. This part has a strong bitterness.
4. Slice the goya into 2mm slices. I don’t like bitterness, so I slice it thinly. The bitterness is one of the charms of goya, so you can cut it as thick as you like.
5. Place the goya in a bowl and soak in boiling water for about 2 minutes. This is also to reduce bitterness.
6. Cut the Spam and tofu into 7㎜ thick pieces.
7. Heat sesame oil in a frying pan and fry the tofu and Spam on both sides. It takes a little time for the tofu to cook through, but if you let the water evaporate, the finished dish will be less watery. Then remove to a plate.
8. Heat oil and make scrambled eggs. Remove egg to a plate.
9. Stir-fry goya
10. Put the tofu and spam back into the pan and fry.
11. Mix the sake, salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, mirin, pepper, and dashi stock granules in advance.
12. When the goya and spam are warm, add sake, salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, mirin, pepper, and dashi stock granules.
13. Finally, add the eggs. This is to prevent the eggs from discoloring.
14. Turn off the heat and mix the bonito flakes.

If you want to make it easier, you can fry the ingredients together instead of frying them one by one.

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