114 bitter recipes

Steamed stuffed bitter melon with seasoned pork, water chestnuts, and ginger, finished with a garlicky fermented black bean sauce. A classic Cantonese home-style dish.

Lemon chicken with Angostura bitters, brown sugar, and paprika. Flour-coated chicken thighs browned in a skillet then baked with lemon slices in a sweet-bitter pan sauce.

Bitter greens salad with radicchio, peppery arugula, and chicory tossed with Italian dressing. A bracing four-ingredient side that cuts through rich pasta or roasted meats.

Pasta with bitter broccoli, garlic, and chili flakes: a Southern Italian classic scented with an almost reckless 14 cloves of garlic and a hit of red pepper heat. Weeknight dinner, minimal effort.

Vegetarian penne pasta with crumbled feta cheese and sauteed bitter greens in olive oil. The feta melts into a creamy, tangy sauce without any cream needed.

Classic French crepe batter blended smooth with flour, eggs, milk, and melted butter. Rests one hour, makes thin lacy crepes. Freezes beautifully for make-ahead meals.

Chewy butterscotch brownies packed with brown sugar and topped with melty butterscotch chips. One bowl, 15 minutes of prep, and 20 bars of golden, caramel-scented bliss.

Tripe spicy batter: precooked tripe dipped in a zesty white-wine batter spiked with garlic, chili, and Greek gyros seasoning, then fried crisp and golden. Crunchy fritters to dunk in tartar sauce or mayo.

Batter flakey biscuits pour buttermilk-egg batter into hot, butter-pooled muffin tins for crisp-edged, flaky-bottomed biscuits in 20 minutes. Yorkshire pudding meets Southern biscuit.

This recipe tastes exactly like the original Kentucky Fried Chicken coleslaw but without the slightly bitter preservative aftertaste. It's easy to make with a food processor and it's very economical.

Batter-dipped fondue meatballs flash-fried tableside in a fondue pot, served with mustard and horseradish dipping sauces. A retro fondue party throwback that still earns its keep.

At least an hour of advanced preparation is required, to allow the dry ingredients to blend. This recipe will work well with other vegetables, shrimp, chicken strips, etc.

No-knead whole grain batter bread with whole wheat flour, bran, honey, and chopped nuts. A high-fiber yeast bread mixed by hand and baked into a hearty, dense loaf.

Better than sex brownies are dense fudgy squares built on melted unsweetened chocolate and shortening, topped with chopped nuts for crackling crunch against the gooey middle.

A hearty no-knead whole wheat batter bread, beaten rather than kneaded and boosted with wheat germ and soy flour for extra fiber and protein. Honey and molasses give it a deep, faintly sweet, nutty crumb.

Meatloaf for the slow cooker, beef and turkey with oats and veggies for some better flavors.