Chicken kacangma

I was in Kuching recently and my local friend introduced me to a special Sarawakian dish called chicken kacangma. Apparently, this is a must have dish during the confinement period although it can be eaten any time.



This is what the chicken kacangma looks like. It is available for lunch in almost any local eatery.








The first mouthful









It is slightly bitter and is actually quite delicious





So what is kacangma?

It is a hairy annual herb with a single 4-angled stem of about 1 m high. There are 2 varieties of the plant, the pink flowered and white flowered kacangma.









I found these images on sarawakiana.blogspot.com


The scientific name is Leonurus sibiricus L. and the common name is Chinese motherwort (Yi Mu Cao). The local name is Kacangma (Chinese) and Tebung aga, Seranting, Padang deman (Malay)

It apparently contains protein, carbohydrates and minerals like calcium, sodium, and potassium, vitamins A, B1, B2 and ascorbic acid. It is bitter, acrid and cool. It is said to improve blood circulation, regulate menses and has diuretic, anti-swelling, hypotensive, antimicrobial and anticancer properties. Eating this dish during the confinement period will help enhance the immune system and speed up post natal recovery.

The young leaves, shoots and stems are used to cook this dish. You can buy the herbs either in dried or paste form. I could not find the fried packages but managed to get a packet of the paste which I will try one of these days.

Braised pork belly (Tau yue bah)

2 strips of pork belly
3 hard boiled eggs
Brown or white garlic bulbs
Star anise
Cloves
Cinnamon stick


Salt and pepper
¼ teaspoon sugar
Black soya sauce





Cut the pork belly into big pieces. Put the meat in a pot and cover with a lid. You will see a lot of liquid coming out. This process is called ‘sweating’ the meat. Turn the meat over frequently so that it does not get burnt.




Once the meat is dry, add the sugar and soya sauce. Stir to coat the meat evenly.
Add the garlic bulbs, spices and a little water at a time and stir so that the meat does not get burnt.
Add enough water to cover the meat.
Put the lid on and simmer until the meat is cooked.
Add the hard boiled eggs.

Chilli con carne

Beef and chili are both heaty therefore this dish is suitable during confinement











Some kinds of raw beans and especially red and kidney beans, contain a harmful toxin (lectin Phytohaemagglutinin) that must be destroyed by cooking. A recommended method is to boil the beans for at least ten minutes; undercooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans. Cooking beans in a slow cooker, because of the lower temperatures often used, may not destroy the toxins even though the beans do not smell or taste 'bad' though this should not be a problem if the food reaches boiling and stays there for some time. This is why it may be better to use canned kidney beans










2 pieces of Australian stewing beef
4 slices of streaky bacon (optional)
1 knob of butter
Olive oil
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic – crushed and minced
1 large can of red kidney beans
Chilli powder
Salt and pepper





Cut the beef and bacon into bite size cubes









Heat up the olive oil and butter







Add the chopped garlic and onions. Fry until fragrant and golden brown. Remove from the pot and set aside







Put in the beef cubes and ‘sweat out’ the meat








Once the liquid is almost dried up, add the bacon chips and stir until the bacon changes colour. Add the fried garlic and onions, tomato paste, chili powder, water and kidney beans. Bring to boil and then lower the fire. Simmer for about an hour or until the beef is tender. Serve with rice or pasta and any cooked vegetables or a salad.

Pak Cham Kai

I love eating pak cham kai but am not too keen on the chicken rice which uses the chicken oil to cook it. Normally, pak cham kai is cooked by boiling the chicken but I prefer to steam it so that the taste and goodness are preserved.

I like to use the chicken with yellowish coloured skin. I always believed that the colour was because the chicken was given corn based feed, but my chicken seller told me that the colour was because the chickens were fed turmeric. This is good news because its’ active ingredient, curcumin is found to help remove plaques from brain cells that could otherwise interfere with your brain's “wiring”. Curcumin therefore helps to reduce the risk of dementia. It is also good to eat curry frequently.







½ a chicken
1 large piece of ginger – sliced thickly and crushed
4 cloves of garlic – crushed

1 medium sized piece of ginger – cut into very fine strips
Sesame oil

For the marinade:
Shaoxing rice wine
Light soya sauce
Pepper
Salt to taste if not breast feeding
Marinade the chicken and leave to stand for about an hour.






Place the chicken in a steamer. Every now and then spoon the chicken juices over the chicken so that it will be moist and tasty.




In the meantime, heat some of the sesame oil in a wok and fry the finely sliced ginger strips until brownish in colour.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan. Allow to cool and then rub some sesame oil all over the chicken. Cut into bite size pieces and pour the fried ginger strips over the chicken.

How to peel a potato without a potato peeler

Dawn Wells, aka Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island, demonstrates a unique way to peel an Idaho potato...without the use of a potato peeler!

Steamed Nien kuo with grated coconut

Nien kuo is a sticky glutinous rice pudding which is placed at the altar of the Kitchen God during Chinese New Year. The sticky dessert is believed to prevent the Kitchen God from talking too much about the family by gluing his lips and teeth together. This pudding is made of glutinous rice flour and sugar which is steamed until the sugar turns a caramelized brown colour. Nien kuo also sounds like “year high” and recalls the adage nien nien gao sheng (“raising oneself in each coming year”).




It is months since we celebrated Chinese new year and I still have a couple of nien kuo in my larder. What do you do with the nien kuo?






Most people fry the nien kuo in batter, sandwiched between a piece of yam and sweet potato. During confinement, you should fry it without the yam and sweet potato. I find this very oily and fattening so I prefer to steam it.






Wash and cut the nien kuo into bite size pieces








Place in a steamer and steam until soft.








Roll the steamed nien kuo in slightly salted grated coconut and serve immediately.







I must admit I love eating this and I can finish half of this amount in one go.

Penne with chicken sausage and bacon

This is another children’s favourite dish. It is very easy and quick to fix and wonderful for parties and picnics. It makes a nice change if you are tired of eating rice during confinement.











Boil the penne according to the instructions on the packet. When the pasta is almost cooked, add some salt so that it will not be so bland.





Boil and cut the chicken sausage into bite size pieces






Heat a frying pan and put in the bacon pieces. When the bacon is slightly brown, add in some chopped garlic. Stir until the garlic is brownish and fragrant. Add the chicken sausage and mix thoroughly.





Once the pasta is cooked, strain and quickly rinse with warm water to remove the starchiness of the pasta. Add the sausage, bacon, mixed herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper. mix thoroughly and leave to stand for about half an hour before serving.