Old man mumble

Bitter melon, or goya, is a popular name for tsuru-reishi in Japan. The name goya is more common throughout the country, while goya- (with a prolonged ending, a characteristic of the Okinawan dialect) is more widely used in Okinawa Prefecture.

Bitter melon is an annual climbing plant that can grow to be 4 to 5 meters long. Its fruit is a long, narrow spindle shape, 20 to 50 centimeters long. The skin is covered in many small bumps, and the ends are pointed. When unripe, it's green, but as it ripens, it turns yellow and soft and then splits open (this also happens if it's left at room temperature after harvest). The aril, which is the covering on the surface of the mature seeds, is a sweet, red, jelly-like substance. Even when the fruit turns yellow and soft, it's not rotten; it actually becomes sweeter and can be eaten raw. However, it loses its crisp, crunchy texture.　- This information is based on Wikipedia.-

In the Okinawan dialect, 'nabera' refers to a sponge gourd, also known as loofah.
Nabeera (loofah) is a vegetable that, along with goya(Bitter melon), adds color to Okinawan summer dining tables. While goya has recently become popular nationwide as a summer vegetable, it seems that its image as a scrubbing brush is so common that it has not been able to establish itself as a food ingredient. In Okinawa, loofah has been harvested while young and eaten as one of the summer vegetables. The main dishes are nabeera nbushi, nabeera champuru, miso soup ingredients, and ohitashi, among others.

When preparing nabeera, peel the skin thickly. If you don't peel the skin until the flesh turns white, as shown in the photo below, the outer fibers will remain hard, leaving strings in the nabeera and making it unpleasant to eat. Additionally, since young nabeera has soft seeds, they are left intact during cooking.　Nabera has a subtle, refined sweetness. While goya is also a good choice for this summer, which is expected to be extremely hot, it might be worth revisiting the traditional loofah as well.