A unique cocktail made from bitter melon.

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

Following a reporter from 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 customers 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 juice.

According to Austin Hennelly's description, the taste of bitter melon provides a "roller coaster" experience for diners.

"At first, the bitterness will be a little unpleasant and even frightening, but gradually, the excitement will spread through your senses and make you want to experience it again," the director enthusiastically 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, many bars are also experimenting with bitter melon as a main ingredient in cocktails. The image shows a "bitter melon sip" cocktail made with Bulliet Rye, bitter melon syrup, shiitake mushrooms, peppercorns, and bitter liqueur. - Photo: Hanoihousebar

Bitter gourd, a type of gourd, has long been a staple in Asian, African, and Caribbean cuisine .

Chinese bitter gourd has a bright green color and rounded ends and grooves.

The Indian version is darker in color and covered in jagged spikes.

Both types are almost always eaten cooked and have a mildly spicy, grassy texture that "paves the way" for an extremely bitter medicinal taste – much like a painkiller pill with its coating removed.

The bitterness of bitter melon has long been a valuable remedy in traditional Eastern medicine, helping to provide fiber, lower cholesterol levels, and supply various vitamins.

That's why this dish frequently appears on our daily menus.

Now, bartenders around the world are harnessing that distinctive flavor to add strength and balance to cocktails.

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

Returning to the journey of discovering unique drinks made from bitter melon.

At Jade & Clover bar, located in Manhattan's Chinatown, they offer the Bitter Sweet, a variation of the classic Jungle Bird cocktail (which includes ingredients like rum, Campari, and pineapple juice) but replaces the Campari—a slightly bitter liqueur—with bitter gourd juice.

Meanwhile, in Okinawa, a Japanese island situated between the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea, the local people have a particular fondness for bitter melon, also known as goya.

Some people believe that the locals live long lives because they regularly eat this fruit, and there's even a holiday dedicated to it.

A trip to Okinawa in 2019 inspired two Italian spirits producers, Benedetta Santinelli, 28, and Simone Rachetta, 47, to create Amaro Yuntaku, a liquor infused with bitter melon instead of a mixture of herbs and roots.

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

My mom's proud braised bitter melon with meat dish.

TTO - Despite the lingering chaos and turmoil after the pandemic, as in previous years, about half a month before the Lunar New Year, my mother planted bitter melon seeds, with the unwavering belief that: "All the hardships of this year will pass away..."

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