Steamed chicken with ginger and wine is a common dish among the Chinese…but not very long ago, I had the same with some pickled lettuce added and the other day, I did it with ginseng and wolfberries. Well, you may recall how I once cooked steamed pork with cincaluk (fermented shrimps) or what they call balao-balao in the Philippines. This time around, I decided to cook that with chicken instead…
So what I had were some chicken chopped into bite-sized pieces, 5-6 slices of ginger, 2 tablespoons of cincaluk and this time around, I included a red chilli cut into halves and two stalks of serai (lemon grass). I mixed all that together and added half a teaspoon of msg plus a bit of sugar to counter-balance the saltiness of the cincaluk…and put all that in a bowl. Then I filled half the bowl with water and steamed it for an hour or so…
There! Don’t you think it looks nice? Unfortunately, the chilli was not hot so it made no difference whether it was there or not, maybe just to add a little bit of colour and make the dish look nicer, that’s all. But the serai did wonders in enhancing the taste. It tasted really good and my missus and I loved it. I must say that it tasted a lot better than what I had come out with before – steaming meat with cincaluk.
Anybody going to try this?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Yum! May try this out tomorrow. The pork version was good too π have to go get more ‘cincaluk’ first!
Yup! Pork was good…but this one with the serai, really nicer. Too bad the chilli wasn’t hot…
yup am going to cook this for dinner. agree with you serai will do wonders. to the taste…. introduce you this drink– boil serai n pandan leaves – 50/50 portion in a pot of water n drink – they say its good for joint pain.
Oh? Will try that… This is probably what they call lemon grass tea that they serve at some cafes and restaurants. Got lots of serai and pandan in my backyard – must get some to make.
oh gosh YUMMY !! … I do miss all these food π¦ … Cincaluk’s amongst my favourite ever… Glad you enjoyed your meal
LOL!!! Not many people like cincaluk – I didn’t when I was younger. I guess it’s an acquired taste…and also, must see the source. Good homemade cincaluk can be really nice – those available at the supermart are usually very salty and not so fragrant. But cooking it this way…as not much added – the cincaluk smell not strong, yet the sweetness in the soup is really great!
I thing if the chilly is hotter must be damn delicious right? But I thing I will prefer it to be more saucy. Thick. :p
Steamed…how to get thick sauce leh? Healthier to eat steamed dishes… Some days, the chilli bought from the market…not hot at all, dunno why. Often forced to use cili padi which is extra hot but not so nice – the chilli fragrance/taste isn’t there.
oh chicken again. remind me that my last night dinner that i mistaken eating a half cook chicken with its raw meat inside.
Eyew…who cooked that? You kah? π¦ Ya…I saw on AFC, they even added serai and of course, pandan leaves when they cook the chicken rice. Yet to try that…
One of the many STP’s signature dish again.. i love anything with serai.. even chicken soup with serai and small onions is so tasty… but with cincaluk, never cook that before cos never buy cincaluk from ipoh.. dont know fresh or not.. if Malacca ones, then nicer i think… so this will be the one dish we will request when we go sibu next time.. eh.. π
All the way from Malacca? I only know the bottled Tan Kim Hock ones but they’re not really great. None from the fishing towns in Perak? Lumut? We get ours from the coastal towns like Bintulu or Mukah… No problem! Still waiting for the good news – when all of you will be coming… π
oh yeah..forgot about the lumut cincaluk… maybe never bought them before from there.. remember buying from malacca only.. lol…
See! I’m so far away and yet I know a lot more about you people over there… π
err….a bit too oily.
Not really…even though it does look so in the photo. I wouldn’t like it either if it had been oily. Just the oil from the chicken (skin), that’s all – no oil added. I think there is a lot more in a plate of kampua… π¦
Looks yummy…I may try tis recipe one day.
Nice… Go ahead and try. I’m sure you’ll love it. My missus loved the soup, finished it all…and left behind the chicken. LOL!!!
whoaa steamed one? 0.o look nice leh! eh then d taste of chilli got or not? not spicy la?
Too bad the chilli – useless one, not hot at all. Would like it with a little bit of chilli spiciness… But anyway, very good as it was.
hmmmm…i don’t like cincaluk. π
You like belacan? This one is much milder in comparison. Just add a bit and the soup will have the sweetness of the bubuk (tiny shrimps) and the ginger and serai would drown the fermented taste of the cincaluk. Really nice… Next time you come back to Sibu, I’ll cook for you… Hehehehehe!!! π
thanx for sharing recipe. gotta cook it one fine day.. heehe
Welcome…and thanks for dropping by, whoever you are. If I translate, your name is “Kim Hua”. π Do come again…
Someone else said steaming eggs with cincaluk is a real kicker! Must try soon.
I may have tried that, can’t remember. Not a fan of steamed eggs, but I hear it’s nice in omelette too…
Ya I tried in omelettes, very nice!!
Ya… My supply of cincaluk running low now. Will have to try and get my hand on some more… π¦
lovely dish cooked by u again …. i wonder how come u have so much time to cook at home? wish to be like u
I’m retired… Have all the time in the world. Hehehehehe!!! π
I can see some fats still attached to the raw chicken pieces… For meat, I’ll prefer chicken than pork π
Ya…my missus will ask the seller to remove the skin, or most of it…and then, the chicken looks so miserably pathetic! I did not bother to clean the chicken pieces of all the fat…though sometimes, I may do that. Love the skin…but not the fat – will remove it when eating if the chicken is too fat.
THIS is just mouth watering….dont care about the smell but I LOVE cincaluk…going to try this recipe soon…youre good Arthur.
I’m sure you do. Thanks for the compliment and good luck! Bet you’ll love it too. π
To make really tasty chicken soup, best is to use Kampung chicken or old hen. Those chicken reared for meat aren’t too good.
I know kampung chicken – which can be quite expensive…and black chicken – supposed to be extra nutritious. Old hen…usually used to cook curry as tough and can simmer for a long time without the meat disintegrating. Chicken these days – if you use slow cooker, you’ll end up getting shredded chicken…and all the bones. Really bad!
π¦ U kno… tht day, my curry… the ayam so lembik tho I just cook for 30 mins. So paiseh, cuz I go feed ppl wif it.:( Must buy old hen ah?
I don’t like old hen. Has a smell… Good for curry only, can simmer a long time to get it tender and the curry flavour to go into the meat. These days, if you buy the ordinary chicken for curry and you put potatoes in last, by the time the potatoes get cooked, the chicken already hancur – shredded chicken and bones… Have to boil the potatoes separately before putting in. π¦
The reason why kampung and old hen are tastier is because they are older. A chicken reared for meat could reach marketable weight in about 5 weeks. On the other hand, an old hen is about 70 weeks old.
The meat ones are all hormones, I guess…or at least, that’s what they say…or chemical feed. My missus will buy the kampung ones most of the time…
Hahaha… Kat made me DOM chicken today. Looks really yummy.But… she put dong guai… dono after eat, I will pengsan anot? LOLOL.
Dong quai…good, good for women…and Pete said can help hair grow. LOL!!! Talking about him, haven’t seen him around for a while… Wonder where he’s gone.
Pete ah? Don’t know worr… busy I think? LOL… ya, haven’t heard from him for quite some time liao.
Dunno. Must be very busy…or gone on holiday. He should be back after a while.
Look tasty… but I don’t have cincaluk leh… not spicy would be suitable for kids, hehe! Another nice dish my friend!^-^
Have a great day!
Thank you. The Malacca one? Tan Kim Hock? Used to take that before…but now tongue spoilt already – must insist on very high quality one. I’ve tried the cincaluk in the hotel buffets – they’re all quite good. I wonder where they get theirs…
On chicken feed. Modern chicken feed are properly formulated to have the optimum balance of energy, protein, fiber, calcium, amino acid etc. for best price vs performance ratio. So it is all very scientific nowadays instead of letting kampung chicken forage for earthworm and grass and grow slowly due to malnutrition. Sometimes, you even find some kampung chicken’s stomach full of worms like tapeworm & pin worm etc. So which is more ‘hygienic’?
But it seem lay people prefer to call anything “modern & scientific” being unnatural or “chemical”.
And anything “natural”…is “organic” and “healthier”… I’m not really into those stuff – I eat anything! For one thing, those reared on chicken feed are very fat…and sometimes, they are so soft like jelly – you feel “geli” when eating. Once my missus bought from KFC, and it was like that – I could not finish eating… But my missus knows the seller at the market and she will buy the not-so-soft ones…, and she will help her remove the skin… I love the skin! π¦
LOL….that fairy have something like this in her fridge…kakakaka
Why in the fridge? She has not eaten it all yet? Still struggling to get herself to do that?
Someone sked I kebuluran… sumbat me with fried beehoon, lor mai kai and DOM chic. Gave me so much…can’t finish in one sitting, so I saved the chicken for dinner lorr… LOL. Haizz… next time habislah… dono how to crack my head to return the tupperware. Looks like must tink of some lauk to feed that someone liao.
Wah!!! You people so lucky! And Claire has Elin to feed her. How come I don’t have anybody here like that? Tsk! Tsk! Hah!!! There! She gave you all the meat – later you constipate. No veg kah, Kucing? Hahahahaha!!!!
cikgu, this fairy doesnt eat vege one…go out makan got order vege. She doesnt touch at all. waste my effort la to make vege for her
She carnivorous lah like that? No wonder body heaty… Wonder got constipate or not? LOL!!! π
it look quite oily. Oil from skin of chicken. if the chili hotter that more better
Only in the photo. I wouldn’t like it either if it had been oily. Ya…will try again next time – remove all the fat and use cili padi!
i dont really like steamed chicken.. prefer fried ones =)
Ya…young people usually are like that. My daughter will take the soup only…most of the time. But steaming is healthier – no oil added.
it seems very nice but its too oily for oldman like me… :O
Not oily…only in the photo. You eat chicken rice – they drip all the oil from the bird and all the stock to cook the rice, add butter or margarine some more… Only you don’t see how much oil has been used and you just eat happily!
Like I said earlier, the older the chicken, the ‘harder’ the meat. Real kampung chicken probably reared for 6 months or more and old egg laying hen over 12 months. On the other hand, those you find in KFC are only about 1 month old.
As for amount of oil in chicken. Well, if you are on a starvation or restricted diet like those Kampung and old hen, they wouldn’t develop much fat.
Yup…I know kampung chicken is less oily and the meat is tougher, have to simmer longer. Best for Foochow red wine chicken soup…and eat with mee sua! I don’t really bother about what I eat – whatever that is nice! My missus will say this is bad, that is bad – like chicken skin and fat…and then she will eat something that is worse like the 3-layer pork belly – says the meat is nicer than other parts! So contradicting! SIGH!!! π¦
i absolutely do not like this post. Cos I hate ginger and cincaluk. hehe
Hmmmm…you haven’t tasted this yet. You’ll be asking for more! Muahahahahaha!!! Next time you get married, have babies how? Confinement, they’ll feed and stuff you with lots of ginger one! ROTFL!!!
I find these present day cincaluk very different from the type we had when we were much younger. And I much prefer the old days version.
Different? How? Usually I will get homemade ones – made by people that people know, cleaner…and taste a lot nicer. In my younger days (when I used to rinse my curry chicken in water before eating), I wouldn’t touch cincaluk. So smelly…at that time. Now, I love it! LOL!!
i dont eat rice…so wat chick o duck rice i oso wont die oily…lol
Wah! You ang moh, is it? Don’t eat rice…eat bread and pasta. Hehehehe!!!