Ampalaya, or bitter gourd, is a nutritious vegetable that may be paired with varied meats. One glorious pairing is with beef. This Beef with Ampalaya recipe is simple to organize, wholesome, and solely takes lower than an hour to cook dinner. When you’re searching for a nutritious meal, give this recipe a attempt.
Printed: 4/2/25
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Beef with Ampalaya entails marinating beef sirloin in a mix of flavorful components that seep into the tender meat and improve the style of the sliced ampalaya. This can be a contemporary tackle the traditional recipe, Ampalaya Con Carne. Whereas each recipes contain marinating, this model leads to a richer taste by marinating the meat for an extended time. Nevertheless, when you want a faster marinade, you possibly can observe the Ampalaya Con Carne recipe.

On this Beef with Ampalaya recipe, I additionally added baking soda. It acts as a tenderizer, serving to to interrupt down the meat’s proteins, leading to a softer texture. It additionally helps the meat retain moisture throughout cooking, making it juicier and extra flavorful. This strategy brings out the very best qualities of the meat and enhances the bitterness of the ampalaya.
Prepare dinner Beef with Ampalaya


- Put together the components – slice the meat into skinny lengthy items. Take away the seeds from the bitter gourd (ampalaya) and slice it into serving items.
- Marinate The Beef for a Flavorful Base – Mix 1 ½ kilos of beef sirloin with the marinade components: 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, ¼ cup of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, 2 ½ teaspoons of cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon of baking soda, 6 minced garlic cloves, 1 thumb-sized piece of minced ginger, and ½ teaspoon of floor black pepper. Combine all the pieces totally to coat the meat evenly. Let the meat marinate for half-hour to make sure the flavors soak into the meat, enhancing its style and tenderness.
- Stir-Fry The Marinated Beef for a Fast Sear – Warmth 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a pan over medium warmth. Add the marinated beef slices and stir-fry for about 2 minutes. This step shortly sears the meat, locking within the marinade flavors and making a wealthy base for the dish. As soon as finished, switch the meat to a plate and set it apart.
- Sauté Onion and Bitter Gourd to Construct Taste – Utilizing the identical pan, warmth the remaining cooking oil. Add the thinly sliced onion and sauté till it softens. Then, add the bitter gourd that has been cored and sliced crosswise. Stir-fry the bitter gourd for 1 minute to barely soften its texture and mix its taste with the onion.
- Simmer The Beef and Greens – Return the cooked beef to the pan. Pour in ¾ cup of water and canopy the pan. Let the combination boil briefly to infuse the meat and greens with the marinade flavors. Then, uncover and simmer whereas stirring often, permitting the sauce to thicken and coat the components evenly.
- Plate and Serve – Switch the Beef with Ampalaya to a serving bowl. This dish pairs fantastically with steamed rice for a hearty and wholesome meal. Take pleasure in your dish with a cup of heat rice!
Ideas & Methods
- Select easy and smaller ampalaya – Purpose for ones which can be much less wrinkled and have a easy, agency floor. Keep away from the brief, darkish inexperienced ones with heavy wrinkles, as these are likely to have a stronger bitter style. Smaller ampalayas usually have a milder bitterness in comparison with their bigger counterparts, making them a better option for recipes like Beef with Ampalaya.
- Blanch and rinse with chilly water – If you wish to additional cut back bitterness however nonetheless retain the vegetable’s crunch, blanch the ampalaya slices in boiling water for 1–2 minutes. Drain and rinse with chilly water instantly to cease the cooking course of earlier than including it to the pan.
- Managing bitterness – Lowering the bitterness of ampalaya, corresponding to by salting, blanching, or soaking in water, can result in a slight lack of vitamins. These strategies might trigger water-soluble nutritional vitamins like vitamin C to leach out or break down. Nevertheless, the impression is usually minimal, and the vegetable nonetheless retains a lot of its dietary worth, together with fiber, iron, and antioxidants.


Put together Ampalaya
Making ready ampalaya for the Beef with Ampalaya recipe entails easy steps to make sure its pure bitterness is balanced and its texture is good. It’s common to take away each the seeds and the white spongy half inside. This white half, generally known as the pith, can contribute to the bitterness of the vegetable. By coring the ampalaya totally, you possibly can cut back a few of its pure bitterness whereas sustaining its taste and texture.
Some want to soak the slices in salted water for about 15 to twenty minutes to cut back bitterness, although this step is optionally available relying in your style preferences. Rinse the slices afterward to take away extra salt and set them apart for cooking.


Dietary Advantages of Beef with Ampalaya
Beef with Ampalaya is a dish that mixes the dietary advantages of each beef and ampalaya. eef is a wealthy supply of protein, which helps muscle progress and restore. It additionally gives important vitamins like iron, zinc, and B nutritional vitamins, that are important for vitality manufacturing and sustaining a wholesome immune system.
Ampalaya, then again, is filled with fiber, antioxidants, and nutritional vitamins corresponding to vitamin C and vitamin A. These vitamins contribute to raised digestion, improved pores and skin well being, and a stronger immune system. Ampalaya is understood for its potential to assist regulate blood sugar ranges, making it a sensible choice for these managing diabetes or aiming for a more healthy weight loss plan. It is likely one of the many wholesome dishes I like, and it’s a standout choice for a hearty and health-conscious meal.


Instructed Recipes
Ampalaya Salad: This scrumptious easy salad is the proper aspect dish to your fried seafood. It consists of thinly sliced bitter gourd, crimson onion, and tomato.
Ginisang Ampalaya: Sauteed bitter melon with tomato and scrambled egg.
Rooster with Ampalaya in Oyster Sauce: Boneless hen slices sauteed with ampalaya and cooked in oyster sauce. That is fast and straightforward to organize.
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Beef with Ampalaya Recipe
Bitter gourd sauteed with beef sirloin
Directions
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Mix beef with all of the marinade components. Combine nicely. Marinade for half-hour.
1 ½ lb. beef sirloin, 5 tablespoons cooking oil, 3 tablespoons oyster sauce, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 teaspoons Sesame oil, 2 ½ teaspoons cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, 6 cloves garlic, 1 thumb ginger, ½ teaspoon floor black pepper
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Warmth 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a pan. Add the marinated beef slices. Stir fry for two minutes. Switch to a plate. Put aside.
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Warmth the remaining cooking oil on the identical pan used to cook dinner the meat. Saute the onion till it softens.
1 onion
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Add the bitter gourd. Proceed to stir-fry for 1 minute. (see notes beneath)
2 items bitter gourd
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Add the meat again into the pan. Pour water. Cowl and let boil.
3/4 cup water
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Take away the quilt and simmer whereas stirring often till the sauce thickens. (see notes beneath)
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Switch to a serving bowl. Serve!
Notes
- Stir-frying the ampalaya – Stir-frying the ampalaya briefly helps lock within the beef’s flavors whereas making ready the ampalaya’s texture for the subsequent cooking steps. Moreover, it permits the ampalaya’s taste to barely mellow, decreasing its uncooked bitterness.
- Stirring whereas simmering – Stirring ensures the sauce thickens evenly and prevents it from sticking to the pan or forming lumps. It additionally helps evenly distribute the flavors throughout the meat and ampalaya.
Vitamin Info
Energy: 1707kcal (85%) Carbohydrates: 38g (13%) Protein: 157g (314%) Fats: 102g (157%) Saturated Fats: 14g (70%) Polyunsaturated Fats: 24g Monounsaturated Fats: 57g Trans Fats: 0.3g Ldl cholesterol: 374mg (125%) Sodium: 5956mg (248%) Potassium: 3246mg (93%) Fiber: 8g (32%) Sugar: 6g (7%) Vitamin A: 885IU (18%) Vitamin C: 170mg (206%) Calcium: 268mg (27%) Iron: 15mg (83%)
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