WTF, people?! No, not what you're thinking; we're talking about "What's This Food?!", a new (to us) series of videos from Daniel Delaney. Each day, he takes a look at a different ingredient and shows us how to chop it, cook it, and eat it back in our own kitchens. How awesome is that?
Dan started the project back in January as part of a New Year's resolution to learn more about uncommon ingredients and dishes. In recent episodes, he's covered such diverse and various ingredients as bitter melon, fish sauce, and herbes de provence.
Not only are these videos short enough to watch on a coffee break and packed with excellent information, they're also highly entertaining. Most of the video is Dan talking directly to the camera, and he intersperses his ingredient explanations with Scooby Do impersonations, witty asides, and animated eye-rolls. These videos routinely make me laugh out loud even as I'm taking notes on what to make for dinner.
You can find these videos on Dan Delaney's "WTF?!" website, subscribe to them on iTunes, or search for them on YouTube:
• Watch the Videos! What's This Food?! from Daniel Delaney
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(Images: Daniel Delaney)
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Ugh...bitter melon tastes like what I always imagined Vicks Vaporub would taste like. My mother loves it though.
I only eat bitter melon one way - the way my mom cooks it in this South Indian style called hagalakayi gojju - specific to the state of Karnataka. It's a sweet and savory chutney-like side dish with a very mild bitter taste from the melon. It has to be cooked just right so that the bitterness doesn't overpower the other flavors.
This isn't my mom's recipe (she probably doesn't have one written down anyway), but it sounds like it may provide similarly good results: http://engaathusamayal.blogspot.com/2009/03/pavakkai-gotsu-hagalkai-gojju.html
mmmm... Just made bitter melon and beef with a black bean oyster garlic sauce yesterday. The more bitter, the better. My grandmother used to quickly blanch them and spinkled them with vinegar and sesame oil.
Bitter melon is a somewhat acquired taste. My wife makes awesome bitter melon with black bean sauce hong kong style.