I was so excited when I saw bitter melon in Chinatown. I automatically grasped it and told my husband that I will make it for dinner. He had no idea what it was but it certainly frightened him. I have been eating bitter melon since childhood and I know that it won’t be extremely bitter if I make it myself. I used pork ribs to be my soup base and added soaked shitake mushrooms, frutus lychi, five cloves of garlic, salt and pepper. While I am waiting for the soup to start boiling, I clean the bitter melon by cutting it in half and scraping the inside by spoon. Rinse it again and chop into three inch length pieces. Put them in the soup that start boiling and lower the heat. Let it simmer for 3-4 hours and splash with soy sauce before serving. The bitter melon helps balance the heat in the body. Eating bitter melon a week, keeps the doctor away. Any South-Asian will tell you this.