I am sure this is a popular dish among many home chefs - Chicken Braised with Bitter Gourd in Bean Paste. One can have his or her rice with this dish alone. It is slightly sweet, salty, bitter and spicy. I would say most people do not like the bitter gourd at first as bitter gourd is an acquired taste. But once they have tasted it, they would definitely change their mind about it. And this particular style of cooking the bitter gourd makes it one of the delectable dishes around.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 of a medium-size chicken
- 6 inch bitter gourd
- 2 1/2 tbsp bean paste
- 1 piece bird's eye chili, cut into small pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 cup water
Method:
- Wash and cut the chicken into bite size.
- Wash and cut the bitter gourd into 1-inch rings. Half them lengthwise and remove the seeds and the inner white part. Then cut them into half-inch width.
- Heat up oil in a kuali.
- Saute the garlic till fragrant.
- Add the bean paste and fry them till they are fragrant.
- Add the chicken pieces. Fry them till they are half-cooked.
- Add the bitter gourd and chili.
- Add water and stir to mix. (You may add some light soy sauce if you find that it is not salty enough. However, I did not add any.)
- Cover the kuali and let the chicken and bitter gourd braise slowly till the chicken is cooked and the bitter gourd has softened.
- The dish is ready for serving.
