A super easy Japanese stir fry from Okinawa, goya chanpuru is full of bonito flakes, which is unique for a stir fry dish and so flavoursome that you will get addicted to it. It is not greasy at all and my version is made with pork slices instead of SPAM which is the real version of goya chanpouru.
Recipe by Yumiko on March 7, 2017
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT10M
Total time: PT25M
Rating
4.75 stars (4 reviews)
Ingredients
1 bitter melon ((mine was 340g (12oz)))
180g (6.3oz) pork belly, thinly sliced (note 1)
200g (7oz) hard tofu, cut into 1.5cm (5/8") thick bite size slices (note 2)
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp sesame oil
5g (0.2oz) bonito flakes
3 eggs (, beaten)
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sake
2 tsp water
1½ tsp salt
Categories
Main
Cuisine
Japanese
Steps
Cut bitter melon in half length-wise. Remove seeds including fluffy white core using a spoon. Cut the halves into 0.5-1cm (3/16"-3/8”) thick pieces width-wise.
Place bitter melon in a bowl, add 1 tsp salt and toss (do not massage) to cover bitter melon pieces with salt. Leave for 10 minutes, then rinse and drain well. This is to remove bitterness of goya.
Heat oil in a large frypan or a wok over high heat. Add tofu and cook both sides until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from frypan/wok.
Add sesame oil to the frypan/wok over high heat. Add pork and cook for about 2 minutes until slices are almost cooked through.
Add bitter melon to the frypan and stir gently without breaking the bitter melon slices. Cook for about 1 minute until surface of the bitter melon starts getting cooked.
Return the tofu to the frypan/wok. Add the Flavouring ingredients and mix so that the flavour coats the ingredients evenly.
Add the egg and leave for 15 seconds without mixing. Then shake the frypan/wok to toss the ingredients and mix the egg with other ingredients.
Turn the heat down to low. Add bonito flakes and gently mix, then turn off the heat.
Serve immediately.
Reviews
Ian on 2025-07-24 (5 stars): Thanks Yumiko. We loved this dish on a very recent trip to the Okinawas and so I have really enjoyed being able to recreate this at home and your recipe is spot on.( I wonder if the person who found it too salty didn’t rinse the bitter melon enough.). Not being a spam fan, I’ve used pork crackling instead! Today I was using up veg. so added carrot and celery. Always add carrot but the celery was excellent too. Didn’t have any pork, so I used pork floss instead today. Was tempted to use sardines, after a soba noodle stir fry with sardines in the Okinawas which was surprisingly delicious, but couldn’t convince my wife that it would work in the chanpuru. But can really recommend the crackling!
Jishi on 2025-07-09 (5 stars): This is new to me. I have always cooked bittermelon with tomatoes and egg. Sometimes, I put protein like chicken. This version is great! It's the bonito flavour for the win!!!
Brina on 2023-09-12 (4 stars): I did not like the bitter melon. It was still incredibly bitter even after the salting process, so I ended up picking it all out. Everything else was delicious but way way too salty. I mixed it with brown rice and topped it with green onion, hot sauce, and sesame seeds. So it made an excellent fried rice dish. I would make it again with shiitake mushrooms or zucchini and less salt. Bitter melon definitely is not for everyone!
Marie on 2018-10-23 (5 stars): I lived in Okinawa for three years and miss the island terribly. Making this dish really hit the spot in curing my second home sickness. Thank you!
