Friday, March 28, 2008

Steamed Kampung Chicken


My mum has always tried to buy Kampung Chicken when she can for the family instead of the ordinary chicken from the market. She claims that Kampung Chicken are healthier chicken with less fat as they are not cooped up inside their pens, feed to the maximum just for the slaughter. Checked Wiki and this is what they had to say about the Kampung Chicken...

"A special type of chicken in Malaysian cooking is called the "kampung chicken" (literally village chicken). These are free-range chickens which are allowed to roam instead of being caged. These chickens are generally considered to have higher nutritional value. They are scrawnier than their farmed counterparts, meaning they have less body fat."

Mum's recipe for steaming Kampung Chicken is extremely simple which can be done with minimal fuss. I did exactly that minus the Kampung Chicken. Why? Just simply a matter of Demand more than Supply. They don't have that many Kampung Chickens for sale and if you go to Supermarkets to shop like yours truly here, sometimes you simply cannot find them there. So, I had to substitute with the normal chicken. The dish turned out ok but mum would have said "Go to the wet market lah to get the Kampung Chicken, you lazy girl".

Ingredients

1 Kampung Chicken
2 stalks of spring onion (shredded)
2 stalks of coriander (chinese parsley) for garnishing
3 shallots (chopped)
1 piece of ginger (about 1 1/2 inches, shredded)
1 tsp of Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew (chinese cooking wine, optional)
1/4 of water
Sugar to taste

Seasonings

2 1/2 tbsp of salt
3 tbsp of sesame oil


Method
  1. Rinse the kampung chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
  2. Heat up wok/pan and put in the 2 tbsp of sesame oil and the 2 tbsp of salt. Fry until fragrant and turn off the fire.
  3. Use this to smear all over the chicken and leave it to marinade in to fridge for at least 2 hours.
  4. After 2 hours, remove the chicken from the fridge and put it into a steamer and steam for at least 25 minutes (or until cooked).
  5. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the hot steamer and set aside. When the chicken is cool enough to be touched, chop the chicken into chunks. (note..I didn't do that as I am not a great chicken chopper .. bound to get uneven pieces..so my chicken was intact)
  6. Heat up wok and put in the chopped shallots, shredded ginger and shredded spring onions.
  7. Fry until they become fragrant. Add the cooking wine but this is optional.
  8. Add in the water and bring to a boil.
  9. Add a bit of sugar for taste. There is no need to add anymore salt as the chicken should have enough salt on it.
  10. Pour this hot sauce onto the chicken and serve.
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4 comments:

Dc said...

hehe usually after steaming the chicken, and letting it cool down, we usually dip in a mixture of kicap pekat/cair to eat, YUMMY

Unknown said...

oh.. i know.. that one is the "bak cham kai"..oh yes, that is simple and nice too

Babe_KL said...

easy and yummy *thumbs up* yday i saw a chinese programme on how to make similar version. when i feel brave one day, i might just try it cos that one involve cooking the whole chicken one :p

Unknown said...

don't worry babe.. with your skills.. this should be a breeze..and if 1 whole chicken is really too much for 3 of you, you can do it with half a chicken :)