Biter Melon Aril Tastes like Cherry Candy?

[Galatians522]

I was reading Baker Creek's seed catalogue and it says that the ripe aril on their Jyunpaku bitter melon from Okinowa is sweet and tastes like cherry candy. Can anyone verify if this is true and if there is enough flesh to bother with? If it is, I may have to grow some just to try it. Note: for anyone who does not know, the aril is edible but the seeds are poisonous.

[Eggo]

I have not grown that variety, I do plan to grow it this season though. However, I've grown a few different bittermelon strains in the past and all produce sweet arils. I would describe the flavor as very slight berry flavor with no acidity so yes a waterdown candy sweetness. There's no offensive undertone to the flavor at all but nothing that would wow you... like a bland sweetness. The texture though is one that people may love or hate. It is gelatinous and reminds me of jelly or some random ingredients you find in a boba drink. I enjoyed the texture but can see it could not be for everyone.  There probably is not enough of the flesh around the arils to make it worthwhile, for me it was more of a byproduct of saving the seeds. Actually easier to eat the aril flesh than to clean it when seed saving. But nothing where i would have that says hey i'm craving some sweet bittermelon arils today, ahah. Now, maybe this Jyunpaku variety will change my mind

[slopat]

I'll have to try growing this one too, it'll probably be a challenge as the nights cool down most of the time and last year I finally found a variety that finally produced and sized up decently. Not quite sure what to make of this but most of the bittermelon I've seen becomes sweet as they turn overripe orange yellow.  Even my cat used to lick them. So I never knew that term "arils" nor that it was edible so thanks for that. Flesh sliced thin and stir fry with either beef, pork, or chicken in black bean sauce is what I'm used to. Leaves for tea is soso. But arils?

Now I just had a flashback of cubed overripe orange bittermelon steamed with shrimp paste and Chicharrones!

[CarolinaZone]

I was reading Baker Creek's seed catalogue and it says that the ripe aril on their Jyunpaku bitter melon from Okinowa is sweet and tastes like cherry candy. Can anyone verify if this is true and if there is enough flesh to bother with? If it is, I may have to grow some just to try it. Note: for anyone who does not know, the aril is edible but the seeds are poisonous.

There's no bitter melon that is not bitter. Less bitter...maybe. Not bitter, never.

[JCorte]

Galatians522,  I have grown that specific variety you're asking about from Baker Creek.  It does not taste like cherry candy to me.  When the melon turns yellow the arils are red and become sweet, but doesn't taste good enough for me to grow for the arils.  I grew it two years in a row, first in Laguna Beach then second in Fallbrook.  I wanted to see if quality improved with the warmer temps at the farm, but they tasted the same both years. 

Janet

[Galatians522]

Galatians522,  I have grown that specific variety you're asking about from Baker Creek.  It does not taste like cherry candy to me.  When the melon turns yellow the arils are red and become sweet, but doesn't taste good enough for me to grow for the arils.  I grew it two years in a row, first in Laguna Beach then second in Fallbrook.  I wanted to see if quality improved with the warmer temps at the farm, but they tasted the same both years. 

Janet

Bummer!

[Julie]

Good morning, like everyone else I'm looking at the white okinawan bitter melon variety from Baker Creek.  I've never tasted bitter melon before.  Is it worth growing as a FL summer crop?  In these inflationary times, I want to try and grow some of my own veggies during the summer, but only things that are of decent eating quality.  I'm not interested in the arils that much, more the vegetable itself.  Is bitter melon decent tasting and will grow well in south FL summer?

[Eggo]

Good morning, like everyone else I'm looking at the white okinawan bitter melon variety from Baker Creek.  I've never tasted bitter melon before.  Is it worth growing as a FL summer crop?  In these inflationary times, I want to try and grow some of my own veggies during the summer, but only things that are of decent eating quality.  I'm not interested in the arils that much, more the vegetable itself.  Is bitter melon decent tasting and will grow well in south FL summer?

It's an acquired taste and I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone whose never had it.  Even the mildest strain will be too bitter for most whose never had it.  It's not like black coffee bitterness, it's a different level.  Myself I enjoy the bitterness, I grow the most bitter varieties for myself and some of the milder strains for family/friends.  I seen clips where people go through different processing of trying to mild the bitterness like salting and squeezing out the juice. At that point, I would say just eat something else lol. Any health benefits are probably gone by all the prepping.  But if anyone still insists I think the best way for anyone new to enjoy may be juicing with other flavors and sweetness.

[Julie]

Ah, that's not encouraging

Thank you for replying though.

[Julie]

For those who have grown the okinawan bitter melon, is this variety more palatable to newcomers to this vegetable?  Still don't want to give up on this..lol

[Eggo]

Julie, have you tried to search some of the ethnic grocery stores in your area?  It won't be the okinawan variety but could give you a sense of the tastes. The Indian supermarkets will usually carry the bumpier more serrated strains. They are more bitter. The Asian supermarkets tend to carry the smoother bumpy skin variety which is usually milder in bitterness compared to the other. Some stores seems to almost carry them year round at least in my area. I don't know where they get them from.

[Julie]

No, I probably could have done that but I already ordered the seed from Baker creek, lol.  I'm desperate to grow anything during the summer, food is so expensive these days! Hopefully it's not horrible

[slopat]

How are the bitter melon plants doing?  The spring and early summer weather at night has been too cold so it's sadly been bought. Crazy price of ~$2.50 each from Fresno. Seems like it was yesterday that it was $0.49/lb and tritip was $0.99/lb!

Good beef was less expensive!

Beef with bitter melon FTW

[Satya]

interesting! I just shot a jyunpaku Okinawan bitter melon short, forgot all about the ripe fruit, otherwise would have included the aril info
https://youtu.be/g0KuhoBa4f8
To be honest, I don't care about the arils that much because I love the unripe fruit cooked as a vegetable or juiced for a shot of healthy - I harvest them all before they're ripe  [size=78%] [/size]
All varieties of bitter melons' arils (red) of a ripe fruit (orange) taste very sweet, even the mini weedy ones.
Even the arils of an unripe fruit have a very different taste than the bitter melon itself. I wouldn't say it's candy sweet but has a very (very!) mild sweet flavor, I wouldn't even call it a flavor, it's probably a hint of sweetness followed by a very light aftertaste of bitter that doesn't last long. An interesting super subtle flavor if you ask me, but I really like the bitter melons of all kinds, and this one is very pretty, with mild bitterness,  the taste blends very well with other vegetables when you cook it, so all in all this vegetable has lots to offer and is worth growing, in my opinion, for many reasons. I would grow them for health benefits anyway, cherry or not 

[Satya]

Good morning, like everyone else I'm looking at the white okinawan bitter melon variety from Baker Creek.  I've never tasted bitter melon before.  Is it worth growing as a FL summer crop?  In these inflationary times, I want to try and grow some of my own veggies during the summer, but only things that are of decent eating quality.  I'm not interested in the arils that much, more the vegetable itself.  Is bitter melon decent tasting and will grow well in south FL summer?

Absolutely! The flesh to seed ratio in that variety is good, fruit is not very bitter like its cousins (Chinese or Indian bitter melons that are really bitter) and the vine is very productive. I have one plant and it produces 2-3 fruits every day. Just needs full sun and adequate watering if a dry spell comes.
Here is my vine:
https://youtu.be/g0KuhoBa4f8

[Eggo]

Hi Satya, funny your bitter melon video recently showed up in my feed and I enjoyed watching it. I am growing Jyunpaku and Big Top bitter melon for the first time this year  I enjoy the most bitter ones and my favorite are the Indian ones as it's more bitter and I believe the texture holds up better in soups. But i grow all kinds and the less bitter ones for family and friends. In terms of the aril I hope to taste Jyunpaku for the first time this year.  I believe the more bitter Indian strain has the better tasting arils definitely compared to the Chinese or the Big Top variety. I thought it may correlated to the bitterness of the fruit. I will hope to try the ripe jyunpaku in a few weeks, my fruit is close to a foot long.  I think the best time to taste the aril is when half of the fruit is ripe but still firm. The arils is sweet but seems more flavorful. When it's completely ripe the arils are sweet but more like a very bland sweetness.  I had a foot long fruit from an Indian strain I been growing for a few years that had probably the best aril i tasted so far. One very interesting note, is that the Big Top bittermelon produces red pulp but black seeds. Here's some of my videos.

https://youtu.be/wq9kmBl571g

https://youtu.be/HkRP8eWOuIQ

[Galatians522]

interesting! I just shot a jyunpaku Okinawan bitter melon short, forgot all about the ripe fruit, otherwise would have included the aril info
https://youtu.be/g0KuhoBa4f8
To be honest, I don't care about the arils that much because I love the unripe fruit cooked as a vegetable or juiced for a shot of healthy - I harvest them all before they're ripe  [size=78%] [/size]
All varieties of bitter melons' arils (red) of a ripe fruit (orange) taste very sweet, even the mini weedy ones.
Even the arils of an unripe fruit have a very different taste than the bitter melon itself. I wouldn't say it's candy sweet but has a very (very!) mild sweet flavor, I wouldn't even call it a flavor, it's probably a hint of sweetness followed by a very light aftertaste of bitter that doesn't last long. An interesting super subtle flavor if you ask me, but I really like the bitter melons of all kinds, and this one is very pretty, with mild bitterness,  the taste blends very well with other vegetables when you cook it, so all in all this vegetable has lots to offer and is worth growing, in my opinion, for many reasons. I would grow them for health benefits anyway, cherry or not 

Thanks for posting, I watched your video and tasted the aril from a wild vine for the first time today. As you said mildly sweet. I've probably walked by thousands of them and never really thought about tasting one.

[Eggo]

After tasting the aril of several varieties this year.  I would say that the Indian strain is the best tasting of the bittermelons. The flesh is also the most bitter.

The jyunpaku was not too far off from the Chinese strains but had a bit more arils.  It had the most even ripening of the varieties I grew though. Most other varieties seem to ripen from bottom of the fruit up.