Recipe: Chinese braised chicken with bitter gourd 苦瓜鸡

A couple of months ago, we bought a bitter gourd, cooked it and threw some of the seeds into our garden. To our surprise, a bittergourd plant sprouted and before long, we made our first bittergourd harvest. Thanks to this bittergourd plant, we have had at least a dozen homegrown bitter gourds to cook with :)

Chinese braised chicken with bitter gourd 

Bitter gourd or melon is a green,edible vegetable which is crunchy and very bitter. Its flowers are yellow in colour and the plant thrives in hot, humid conditions. It has many health benefits such as lowering blood glucose in diabetics. Baby D likes harvesting the bitter gourds from our garden.

 Baby D checking if the plant is big enough to harvest

Yellow flowers

Our homegrown bitter gourd 苦瓜

One of our favorite ways of cooking and eating bitter gourd is to braise it with chicken breast chunks. These two ingredients are braised with mushroom sauce and ginger wine. I also like adding some coarse black pepper which accentuates the flavours of the dish. The braising sauce is also super delicious on some white rice.

Chinese braised chicken with bitter gourd 苦瓜鸡
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 13-15 minutes
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
200g chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 bittergourd (about 350g), washed
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp canola oil
150ml water
1/2 tsp ginger wine
1 1/2 tbsp mushroom sauce
1/8 tsp coarse black pepper
Salt, to taste

1. Trim the ends off the bittergourd, then cut into half. Then cut again into half lengthwise, and using a spoon, scoop out the seed cavity. Then cut into 1cm pieces (it will be shaped like a crescent).

2. In a wok, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and stir fry for about 1 1/2 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the chicken and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Add the bittergourd and stir fry for about 30 seconds, then add the water and bring to the boil. Add the mushroom sauce, ginger wine and coarse black pepper and braise for about 6-8 minutes until you achieve your preferred doneness. The bittergourd should be soft on the outside with a slight bite in the centre.

3. Season with more salt as necessary, then serve with white rice.

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