A melon that lowers blood pressure and blood sugar? Greens that relieve menstrual cramps? It’s a way of life for Hmong farmer Pov Huns. “The Hmong are the hill people of Southeast Asia. They don’t have access to medicines. The town is ten to fifteen days walk.”
Huns grows bitter melon, known for lowering blood pressure and blood sugar. Different ethnic groups prefer different varieties, according to Huns. Koreans like them ripe, Vietnamese like them green. Chinese like to stuff a green one shaped like a toy top. The variety does not change the medicinal quality.
“Bitter melon greens are more nutritious than the melon,” says Huns, “They are added to green tea for cancer fighting effect.”
Bitter melon is related to cucumbers, watermelon, muskmelon and squash. They look warty on the outside. The seeds and inner membrane are discarded unless the melon is ripe. The seeds of the ripe melon look like large pomegranate seeds and taste sweet.
Like its name, bitter melon tastes bitter. The Bitter Melon Council (www.bittermelon.org) attributes the bitter taste to high quinine concentrations, thus another use, preventing and treating malaria. The website also notes research documenting that the fruit lowers blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides, heals ulcers caused by H. Pylori, treats intestinal parasites and aids digestion. The leaf and stem lower blood sugar, fight cancer, bacteria and viruses such as HIV, and stimulate digestion. The website lists many other traditional uses.
Bitter melon isn’t the only medicinal food Huns grows. Bitter eggplant leaf controls menstrual cramps, according to Huns. “African women eat them boiled after delivery to control bleeding and afterpains. Africans like the greens.”
Asian purple eggplant “root cures athlete’s foot,” says Huns, “Boil the root and soak your feet daily for week or so. No problems with liver or kidneys that way.”
Lemon grass or fever grass quickly reduces a fever. Huns recommends one cup lemon grass boiled in two cups water for ten minutes, then cooled to drinking temperature. Lemon grass retains its medicinal qualities frozen or dried. “It also repels mosquitoes,” notes Huns.
Huns farms four acres near I-635 and Metropolitan Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. A chemist, he shuns chemicals on his farm. For the hill people of Laos where he was born, there is no such thing as chemical fertilizer. “They burn brush and spread the ashes as fertilizer. Cow dung is hard to come by,” says Huns.
You’ll find Pov Huns and his food “pharmacy” at City Market booth 133 on weekends. He recommends serving bitter melon several ways, including in an omelet. I adapted this recipe from the Bitter Melon Council website, www.bittermelon.org. I recommend serving it with brown rice instead of the traditional white or fried rice. The fiber in brown rice will help further lower blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides and promote digestive health.
BITTER MELON OMELETTE
1 - Bitter melon
1 TBSP grape seed oil, ghee or coconut oil
1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 - Small onion, sliced
3 eggs, beaten
1 - small tomato, sliced thinly
Salt
Slice bitter melon in half lengthwise, then crosswise into thin slices. If melon is too bitter, rub the slices with salt and let stand until sweaty. Squeeze the juice out of the slices.
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion. Sauté until onion is transparent. Add beaten eggs. Allow eggs to spread on the pan. Immediately add the tomato and bitter melon slices to the egg. Fold in half and serve.
This article originally appeared in the October 2006 issue of the Kansas City Wellness Magazine.
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