Pages

▼

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Bitter Gourd & Chicken Stew


I've been so busy at work since January this year. Sometimes, I reach home quite late, and exhausted. So, to be frank, I didn't spend much time to cook dinner now a days. Even if I were, I'll just cook one dish which combines meat and vegetable to serve with rice. Bitter gourd and chicken stew is one of them. 

Soy bean paste is good to reduce the bitterness of the bitter gourd. Stew the bitter gourd together with chicken and seasonings, the outcome is pretty impressive. With this dish alone, our dinner becomes flavorful. 


Bitter Gourd and Chicken Stew

Ingredients:
Half of bitter gourd, cored and sliced horizontally
Half of free range chicken, chopped into pieces, and skinned
1 tbsp of goji berry, soaked in water for 10 minutes and drained.
500ml of water
2 tbsp of cooking oil
1 tbsp of soy bean paste
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
1 tsp of brown sugar
light soy sauce to taste (optional)

Steps:
1. Heat oil in a wok. Saute garlic till fragrant. 
2. Add chicken and soy bean paste to fry for 2 minutes. Add bitter gourd to mix.
3. Pour in water and cover the wok. Leave it simmering for 10 minutes.
4. Add oyster sauce, brown sugar, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce to taste.
5. Leave it simmering till sauce thickening. Dish out and sprinkle goji berry on top of it.

at

18 comments:

  1. WendyinKK February 20, 2011 at 4:51 PM

    Oh.... I can never ever eat a bit of bittergourd. I know it's very good for me, but then I have very low tolerance to bitterness.
    Thanks for the tip by using bean paste to reduce bitterness, but still, I dare not try even one small piece.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My Little SpaceFebruary 20, 2011 at 6:56 PM

    I hated this during my childhood days because of the name... you know, bitter! NO kids will ever like the word bitter. I only started taking it after I met my hubby. I have to admit there's time the fruit became terribly bitter due of the dry weather. Most of the time it tastes great & not even bitter but something like licorice. It still the best to take it while it still warm from the wok. :o) Thanks for sharing. Hope you're having a lovely evening.
    Cheers, Kristy

    ReplyDelete
  3. daphneFebruary 20, 2011 at 7:10 PM

    I am actually a big fan of bittergourd but they are so hard to find (those with less creases) in WA. And when we do find them, it's like AU$5 for one!I love it with young tou fu or like u said, cooked with bean paste. Love how u did it with chicken as well-makes it a one pot dish!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Three-CookiesFebruary 20, 2011 at 7:24 PM

    I haven't tried bitter gourd for years, and never heard of it cooked with chicken. Interesting

    ReplyDelete
  5. Elin ChiaFebruary 20, 2011 at 8:18 PM

    This is my favourite dish..bittergourd...remember those days I used it to fry my vermicelli :) delicious !!! Your photoshoot is great...love the way u took the bittergourd...nice!

    ReplyDelete
  6. JeannieFebruary 20, 2011 at 11:59 PM

    I don't mind bittergourd if I can find those that are not so bitter! I always tell my sons to eat them because anything bitter is good for them lol! Lovely photos!

    ReplyDelete
  7. tigerfishFebruary 21, 2011 at 12:07 AM

    I am also a fan of bittergourd. I cooked this dish before with Tau Cheo too. It is indeed comforting for late night dinner. Bittergourd reduces the "heatiness" from the body for working late nights - so it is definitely good for you :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Priya SureshFebruary 21, 2011 at 4:10 AM

    Great and fabulous stew..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cooking GalleryFebruary 21, 2011 at 5:31 AM

    I have never tried making something with bitter gourds myself, because I never know how to cook them. Thanks for sharing this beautiful recipe :).

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Glamorous GourmetFebruary 21, 2011 at 5:43 AM

    I've never heard of "bitter gourd" and it sounds a little scary but your photos look beautiful! I might just have to have my first run in with the bitter goird - thanks for sharing:)

    ReplyDelete
  11. ICook4FunFebruary 21, 2011 at 7:40 AM

    I used to hate bittergourd but now I like it a lot. How our taste bud change as we get older. My mom like to cook it this way too. To get rid of the bitterness she will always sprinkle some salt on the cut gourd, set it aside for 15 minutues and squeeze out all the water.

    ReplyDelete
  12. New Kid on the BlogFebruary 21, 2011 at 8:53 AM

    one of my favourite dish. i can understand how tired it is....

    ReplyDelete
  13. Min {Honest Vanilla}February 21, 2011 at 10:05 PM

    this looks so homely and tasty! love the simplicity of it and the sweetness of goji berries make such a difference to the dish too :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. BlackswanFebruary 21, 2011 at 10:17 PM

    So glad I've found another fan of bittergourd. Bittergourd chix is my family's fave & I'm glad we both have something in common :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. lenaFebruary 21, 2011 at 10:25 PM

    now that the cny is over, i can start cooking bittergourd already, haha! this is one of my fav dish too, so appetising..sometimes when i crave for bittergours, i just cook this way too without the chicken.

    ReplyDelete
  16. pigpigscornerFebruary 22, 2011 at 2:01 AM

    This is my favourite way of cooking bittergourd!

    ReplyDelete
  17. MaryMohFebruary 22, 2011 at 4:08 PM

    This is one of my favourite dish. I love bitter gourd...bitter bit delicious. It's a healthy vegetable.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Noob CookFebruary 28, 2011 at 9:57 AM

    I love this recipe and I'm going to try it out. Bittergourd is one of my fav veg and it looks great in a chicken stew.

    ReplyDelete

Hello food lover(s), thanks for putting up your comments.