Rice Toppings | Sauteed Bitter Melon

At that moment that you start cooking, only to realize that you are not sure what to cook because you only took the ingredients available in the fridge. A good thing that the outcome is still delicious and tasty.

Since it was a holiday, we woke up late. Obviously, we had a late breakfast, cared of by Jollibee because we were quite hungry. We ordered our favorite Panwich meal, with coffee for me and hot chocolate for hubby. It was almost 10 in the morning when we ate them.So after eating, proceed with the normal routine in the morning, feeding our pets, watering our plants, watching some updates, and other kinds of stuff. Then noon came and we didn't notice it. I usually prepare lunch by 11 am but because we were still full, so decided to have a late lunch.

Because it was kind of late already, I immediately bumped into our fridge, looking for something that we can eat. Later I realized that we did not visit the supermarket yet because we decided to go later that day. So what I did was to take the available ingredients. First, I only saw tomato, onion, garlic, and sword pepper. No meat was available. I opened the fridge again, and it was a good thing that we still have one bitter melon. So I prepared them for cooking. I craved for something else but no choice cause I need to cook based on what ingredients were available. Rice was cooked ahead already.

So, the pot was ready, the ingredients were also ready. I needed to finish it because it was quite late already, and also a bit hungry. Good thing that hubby was just waiting while doing his thing in front of his laptop. While sauteing the spices, I realized that I haven't decided what to cook yet. Literally, I just took the ingredients I saw in the fridge and prepared them. I was laughing silently for my husband might find out and would definitely tease me for sure. Realizing that I had a bitter melon, I immediately got an egg, which was the last piece, and decided to cook Sauteed Bitter Melon or Ginisang Ampalaya. Yes, obviously the ingredients coincide with the recipe. I giggled and feel relieved at the thought of it.

When it was cooked, I then plated it. I instantly think of a rice bowl. So I took two bowls for us and added enough rice into each of them. Then, I placed the Sauteed Bitter Melon on top of the rice and done. Then, the rice bowls with toppings were served as our late lunch. And the rating that hubby gave was 10/10. I didn't know if he was biased, but I know it tasted good.

So, I want to share what I did to cook it from the available ingredients I had.

^{1 pc large onion, sliced}

^{2 pcs sword pepper,chopped and 1 pc large tomato, sliced}

^{3 cloves garlic, minced}

^{1 pc bitter melon, sliced}

^{1 pc egg, beaten}

^{salt and pepper, 2 tbsp cooking oil, 2 cups water}

• I placed the sliced bitter melon in a bowl with water and salt. And I leave it for 10 minutes. Then, I placed it in a cloth and squeezed the liquid. This is the tip given to me to lessen the bitterness.
• I heated the pan and placed the cooking oil.
• Then sauteed the onions, garlic, tomato, I even include the sword pepper.
• The bitter melon was added and mixed well with other ingredients.
• I added salt and pepper.
• The beaten egg was poured, cooked lightly, and mixed with other ingredients.
• Done! I served it on top of rice in a bowl.

I was grateful because even from the thought that I wasn't sure of what I was doing at first, still it ended great.♥️