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.