Bitter gourd also known balsam pear or bitter melon belongs to the same plant family as cucumbers, pumpkins and squash. Native to the tropics, bitter gourd is popular in Chinese cooking, as well as Indian, Indonesian and Vietnamese cuisines.
Benefits:
- High in Vitamin C & A
- Weight Loss
- Skin benefits
- Diabetic
- Liver (detox)
- Increase Immunity
- Lower Cholesterol
Saw a cute small bitter gourd at the market & perfect size for a dish for 2. Stirfry Bitter Gourd with Chicken in Fermented Salted Black Beans. Some people prefer braised method, but I prefer to just stirfry as I like the bitter gourd to be slightly crunchy rather than braised till soften.
Note that there are 2 types of bitter gourd. Buy those in light green color, some will be bigger in size. Don't buy those small & darker green in color, those is more bitter and usually use for frying in indian cuisine or to make green juice.
Cut bitter gourd into half. Use a spoon to scrape out seeds.
Then, slice bitter gourd into 5mm thickness.
Ingredients : (serves 2)
300g Chicken
85g Bitter Gourd - cut into 5mm thickness
4 slices Ginger
1 tbsp Fermented Salted Black Beans - lightly chopped
2 tbsp Cooking Oil
1/4 tsp Salt
100ml Water
Marinate :
1/2 tsp Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Dash of Pepper
1 tsp Shao Xing wine
1/2 tsp Light Soy Sauce
Seasoning :
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Sugar
Step by Step:
1. Cut chicken into small pieces. Marinate for about 30 minutes.
2. Marinate bitter gourd with salt for 15 mins. Then squeeze to drain away the excess water. This step also reduce the bitterness in the bitter gourd. Set aside.
3. Heat up cooking oil in a pan & saute ginger till fragrant.
4. Add in fermented black beans & saute for about 30 seconds & fragrant.
5. Add in chicken pieces & lightly pan fry it till golden for about 2-3 minutes.
6. Then, put in bitter gourd & stir fry for about 1 mins.
7. Add water & seasoning to the chicken. Stir evenly & cover with lid for about 5 mins on medium heat. Stirring few times in between cooking time.
8. Dish up & ready to serve. Serve with hot steam rice.
If your bitter gourd is cut bigger in size, you need need longer cooking hours.
Cooked with Queen's Xense Casserole Marble Coated Anodised Coating. Non stick 5 layer marble coating. Durable & Long Lasting. High heat efficiency. Easy cleaning & maintenance.
More details please visit: http://www.edgi.com.my