By grace of having been placed in the countryside, I often receive gifts of vegetables from my friends and coworkers and am free to take any goodies from the school vegetable garden.  So far, I’ve received a sack of potatoes from the  Board of Education supervisor, a box of organic onions from my boyfriend’s mom, a fatty tomato from a fellow teacher, and today, a most curious specimen…a goya.

Say whAaat?!?!?!

Has anyone in the US ever heard of a goya? I sure haven’t.  All I knew this morning when I received it was that it looked NASTY.  To me, it looks more or less like a leprous cucumber (See pictures borrowed from the web below).

I asked, “How do I eat it?” to which several teachers began explaining that Okinawans use it in a stir fry called “goya champuru.”  Anxious for more information, I immediately consulted Wikipedia.

According to my friend Wikipedia, goya is known in the west as “bitter melon” or “bitter gourd.”  Obviously, this thing is going to be bitter.  And it’s not even a vegetable! It’s a fruit–the most bitter of all fruits in the world (yaaaaay).  It has several health benefits, including improving gastric function (i.e., no more constipation!), acting like insulin for diabetics, treating malaria as well as HIV, and preventing the spreading of cancer.  The skin also contains lots of vitamin C and can help beat the heat in the summer.

On the bad side, it can increase appetite, make heartburns and ulcers worse, and is not recommended for pregnant women because ripe seeds can be toxic to small children.  The seeds are tasty, but can also cause nausea.  I guess you win some, you lose some.

In terms of recipes, there are a lot of interesting dishes from Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, India, Nepal, and the Philippines.  For now, I’m going to try the Okinawan Goya Champuru.  Stay tuned for taste update and any adverse gastric effects.