tert in seattle wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> dsi1 wrote:
> > On Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 8:10:05 AM UTC-10, tert in seattle
> > wrote:
>
> >> I have vague memories of my mom roasting winter squash halves of
> some >> sort and then eating it with a bunch of butter in the cavity.
> >
> > I made some bitter melon yesterday. The melon was sliced and boiled
> > in water until tender. The water was drained and the melon was stir
> > fried with some ground pork and a black bean/garlic sauce. It was
> > pretty good. Boiling the melon in water and draining like that
> > mellowed out the bitter taste. All that other stuff that the
> > Chinese say will reduce bitterness does not work.
>
>
> never tried bitter melon ... will have to look that one up

It looks a lot like a thin cucumber with lots of knobs. Used generally
in some parts of asia as a palate cleanser (used between very different
foods to reset the taste buds). Generally it's a garnish to the side
from my experience.

--