Different Type of Goya

Tonight, I cooked Chanpuru, which is a form of popular Okinawan stir fry dish. Okinawa is one of prefectures in southern Japan.
It contains bitter melon. Japanese call it "goya".

goya / bitter melon

When I was little, I didn't like goya because it tastes bitter. My mother often cooked goya chanpuru because my familiy grew goya. In summer, there were almost always some goya in our kitchen. So I often had to eat it anyway. But as I grew older, I started to think that it's an acquired taste. Now, I really like goya! :)
When I came to the U.S., I found goya at Indian supermarket. It was shorter than one in Japan, but it tasted almost the same. I found out that it was an Indian variety of bitter melon, and Japanese one was Sub-continent phenotype of bitter melon.

Sub-continent phenotype

Indian Variety

Then, when I went to Korean supermarket, I found another type of goya. It looked like different vegetable, but it was labeled bitter melon as well. I tried to buy and cook. It tasted as same as I know.

China phenotype

I found that it was China phenotype bitter melon.
I can buy it Korean supermarket, Chinese supermarket and Middle Eastern supermarket. I can find this one more easily than Indian variety. I'm very glad about that because I really like goya chanpuru!





 Today's Vocabulary
・ prefecture : noun / 県 ( Pronunciation is  pri'ːfektʃər )
・ grow : verb / （野菜等を）育てる
　　ex) grow vegetables : 野菜を育てる
　　ex) raise : verb / （家畜を）飼育する raise farm animals
　　ex) farm : verb / （魚等を）養殖する
・ as I grow older : 年をとるにつれて
　　ex) As I grew older, I became forgetful. : 年をとるにつれて物忘れがひどくなってきた。
　　ex) As we grow older, our bodies change. : 年をとるにつれて肉体も変化する。
・ an acquired taste : だんだんと好きになる嗜好品、慣れ親しんだ味
　　ex) I'm an acquired taste. :  私は付き合うほどに味の出る人間なんだ。
・ acquire : verb / 時間をかけて習得する。( Pronunciation is əkwa'iər )
・ be labeled : ラベル表示されている、札付きである、ラベルが貼られている
　　ex) It was labeled 99 cents. ９９セントと表示されていました。
・ label : verb / ラベルを表示する　( Pronunciation is le'ibl )