Unique cocktail made from bitter melon

Món mocktail Garden Tonic tại nhà hàng Kato - Ảnh: The New York Times — Garden Tonic mocktail at Kato restaurant - Photo: The New York Times

Following a reporter for The New York Times , we meet Austin Hennelly, the 35-year-old bar manager at Kato, a Taiwanese restaurant in Los Angeles.

He introduced his guests to one of the bar's best drinks - the Garden Tonic mocktail - whose main ingredient is bitter melon juice.

Take a sip of bitter melon

According to Austin Hennelly, the taste of bitter melon brings a "roller coaster" experience to diners.

"At first, the bitter taste will be a bit unpleasant and even scary, but gradually, the excitement will spread throughout the senses and make us want to experience it again and again," the director excitedly described.

Tại Việt Nam, cũng có nhiều quán bar thử nghiệm khổ qua làm nguyên liệu chính cho cocktail, trong ảnh là món — In Vietnam, there are also many bars experimenting with bitter melon as the main ingredient for cocktails. In the photo is the "sip for bitter melon" dish, made from Bulliet Rye, bitter melon syrup, Shitake, Peppercorn, and Bitter wine - Photo: Hanoihousebar

Bitter melon, a member of the gourd family, has long been a staple in Asian, African and Caribbean cuisines .

The Chinese bitter melon variety has a bright green color and round tips and grooves.

The Indian version is darker in color and covered with jagged spines.

Both are almost always eaten cooked and have a mild, grassy taste that "clears the way" for an extremely bitter, medicinal taste - like a painkiller pill that has lost its coating.

The bitter taste of bitter melon has long been a valuable remedy in Oriental medicine, helping to provide fiber, reduce cholesterol levels, and provide vitamins.

Therefore, this is a dish that regularly appears in our daily menu.

Now, mixologists around the world are tapping into that distinctive flavor to add power and balance to cocktails.

Cận cảnh món Bitter Sweet cocktail tại quán Jade & Clover - Ảnh: The New York Times — Close-up of Bitter Sweet cocktail at Jade & Clover - Photo: The New York Times

Back to the journey to find unique drinks from bitter melon.

At Jade & Clover, a bar located in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood, there's the Bitter Sweet, a variation on the classic Jungle Bird cocktail (which includes ingredients like rum, Campari, and pineapple juice) but replaces the Campari - a mildly bitter liquor - with bitter melon juice.

In Okinawa, a Japanese island located between the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea, the locals are particularly fond of bitter melon, also known as goya.

Some believe that locals live long lives thanks to regularly eating this fruit, and there is even a holiday dedicated to the fruit.

A trip to Okinawa in 2019 inspired two Italian spirits makers, Benedetta Santinelli, 28, and Simone Rachetta, 47, to create Amaro Yuntaku, a bitter melon-infused liqueur instead of a blend of herbs and roots.

Santinelli explains that the name comes from an Okinawan word meaning "chat," which is shouted at the end of a meal to signal the waiter to bring drinks.

Mom's proud dish of stewed bitter melon with meat

TTO - Despite the chaos and confusion that still lingers after the pandemic. Like every year, half a month before the 12th lunar month, my mother planted bitter melon, with the "firm belief" that: "All the suffering of this year in the world will pass...".

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Tag: The New York Times

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