Bitter Gourd with Salted Duck Egg

Bitter Gourd with Salted Duck Egg

Hello everyone!

Look what I made yesterday - my friend came over and we both baked and decorated a cake for her parent's 39th anniversary! I had such fun making those cute little fondant flowers.

Anyway, for this Friday's post, I am going to share a recipe for Bitter Gourd cooked with Salted Duck Eggs.

Sounds exotic? 

This is a very popular dish in Chinese restaurants in Malaysia and one which I absolutely love. You can buy Bitter Gourd and Salted Eggs in most Oriental supermarkets in the UK but they are pricey. In Malaysia, both ingredients would cost less than £1 pound each. In case you are unfamiliar with these 2 ingredients, I have take a photo for you.

I didn't have the presence of mind to photograph the Bitter Gourd whole until after I had cut and cooked half of it.

Well, at least you get to see what it looks like on the inside

Some people love bitter gourd, some people do not like it at all. Like its name suggests, it is essentially a vegetable of the gourd variety and has a slightly bitter taste. It has seeds inside which have to be removed before cooking. As for Salted Eggs, they are duck eggs which have been preserved and salt cured in brine or coated in a thick salted charcoal paste. The egg whites are liquid and the yolk is a bright red-orange colour. It is very salty and is commonly used as a condiment for congee  and also in Mooncakes and Glutinous Rice Dumplings. 

This recipe is very easy and can be easily whipped up for a nice mid-week dinner. Serve it with rice and you are done. 

Have a good weekend and see you back here for Meatless Monday!

Recipe for Bitter Gourd with Salted Duck Egg

Serves 2 / Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 8 minutes

1/2 Bitter Gourd (remove seeds and sliced thinly)

1 Salted Duck Egg (crack into a bowl and use a knife to cut up the yolk into small pieces)

2 cloves Garlic (diced)

2 Birds Eye Chillies (optional) (sliced - remove seeds if you want less spiciness)

1 Tbsp Oil
pinch of Pepper

very small pinch of salt (be careful as the Salted Duck Egg is already salty)

approx 200ml water / chicken stock

Method

1. Heat oil in a wok. Once the oil is hot, add in the diced Garlic and stir fry quickly over high heat. Be careful not to burn the garlic. 

2. Add in the sliced Bitter Gourd stir fry quickly for a few minutes. Next, add in the the water or chicken stock and the Salted Duck Egg. Scramble the egg quickly, breaking up bigger clumps of egg as you go.

3. Simmer on high heat for an additional 3-4 minutes until the Bitter Gourd has soften and the Salted Duck Egg is fully cooked. The dish should have some sauce, so do not allow the mixture to dry out completely, add more water if required. Taste and add in the pepper and some saltif required. Just before dishing out, add in the sliced Bird Eye's Chilli and stir through. Remove and serve immediately.