Monday 17 May 2010

Pineapple & Bitter Gourd Chicken Soup

I get the idea of cooking this soup from my recent Taiwan Trip which we have a similar soup during one of our lunch meal. From the soup ingredients that they served, I replicate a similar soup, which taste just as closed as what we had. I was delighted with the end result even though initially I was still worrying about the outcome due to the different type of Bitter Gourd that we have in Singapore.

During my trip at Taiwan, what we mostly saw is this White Bitter Gourd which is available at their supermarket or vegetable stall. It is kind of different from the Green Bitter Gourd that we have over here. This White Bitter Gourd is cultivates by Taiwan agriculture and is known as “白玉苦瓜” which is a very common vegetable used in most household or restaurants. It is very popular among the Taiwanese because of its colour and it does not have any bitter taste at all too. It is normally used to cook this soup dish known as “Pineapple & Bitter Gourd Chicken Soup -凤梨苦瓜鸡” which is what I am going to share today.

Since we cannot find any "White Bitter Gourd - 白玉苦瓜" in Singapore(if anyone of you know where we can get this in Singapore, please share with me) we have to focus on another key ingredient which is the "Pineapple - 凤梨". Try to get the good grade pineapple which is golden in colour and most important it must be sweet and fragrant so that your soup will be burst with that light and refreshing taste. And according to the fruit seller, what I got over here is known as the "Honey Pineapple" from Thailand which cost S$2.00 for half of the portion.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
4 Chicken Drumsticks
1 Medium Size Bitter Gourd, 500g
1/2 Thai Honey Pineapple, cut into big chunks
1 Medium Carrot, cut into chunks
8 - 10 Red Dates(红枣)
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries(枸杞)
1.5 Litres of Water
1/2 Chicken Stock Cube, optional

Method:
1. Trim the fat and remove the skin from the drumsticks, rinse and set aside.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil, blanched the drumsticks for about 5 minutes in boiling water, removed and rinse again.
3. Add 1.5 Litres of water to the soup pot and bring it to boil.
3. While waiting for the water to boil, cut the bitter gourd length-wise into half, scraped off all the seeds and white pits in it then cut into 1"/1.5" thick slices.
4. Place the bitter gourd slices in a big mixing bowl or so, add in 1 teaspoon of salt briefly rub it/massage together with the bitter gourd slices for a few seconds. (this is helps to reduce the bitterness of the bitter gourd)
5. Next, rinse it well and drop it into the boiling water together with all the above ingredients except the wolfberries.
6. When the soup mixture comes to boil again, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer it for about 30 - 40 minutes.
7. Add in the wolfberries in the last 5 minutes and you can season the soup with some salt or chicken stock cube to taste if you prefer.


If you are curious with the taste of this soup, I can guarantee you that it is not bitter at all. And when cooking this soup, you will be delighted with the fragrance that is being release from the pineapple as it smell so wonderful. But a point to note:- as this is a very cooling soup due to the combination of bitter gourd and pineapple, for those who is weak, just recover from sickness or after menses perhaps you should avoid taking this soup or if you want just take it in small amount. If you do try out this soup, please leave me your feedback and share with me your opinion :) Posted by Picasa


4 comments:

  1. Eh.. my dad just cooked this similar soup for me few days ago. It's very delicious one! I suppose the pineapple bring out the flavor. Your one looks very good indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ellena

    I tried the recipe last night, the soup taste great!! Not bitter at all and it has the pineapple fragrance & sweet taste... thumbs up!

    Fiona

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Kitchen Corner, thanks for your kind words :)


    Fiona: Wow...really you so fast try out this recipe!!! Thanks for your sharing and kind comments too :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. i bought white bitter gourd in wet market in bedok today and the seller told me its from taiwan. You can try the wet market.

    ReplyDelete

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Ellena (Cuisine Paradise)

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