Well, that’s what I personally feel! When it’s frying in the kitchen and the fragrance fills the whole house, you can hear your tummy rumbling…and you just can’t wait to sit down and eat. Nope, I’m not talking about belacan (dried fermented prawn paste) here but instead, I’m talking about what we call long kiam hu…
In Hokkien kiam means salty and hu is fish, so kiam hu is salted fish. I do not know what long means but the whole thing together, long kiam hu, refers to a special type of salted fish that is not dry and hard.
I was told once that the fishermen would clean the fish at sea the moment it is caught and stuff salt inside it unlike the normal process where they just salt it on the outside. I don’t know how true that is but the end product is definitely different from the usual. It is softer and moist…
…and goes absolutely well with porridge. You can top it with thinly-sliced chilies and a squeeze of lime to enhance the taste even further.
We use it for cooking too. Sometimes, we mix slices of it (instead of cincaluk or fermented shrimps) and ginger with pork belly, add a little msg and steam. We can also place slices of it on top of soft white tofu and steam to get another very delightful dish. Sprinkle some chopped spring onions (and chili) and serve.
I got this one from my cousin who was in town – she got it from Sarikei and she said it was ngor hu, whatever that is but that is supposed to be very good quality fish. We can also get the bay ka or tenggiri (mackerel) ones from the market but they must be fresh or quite new…or else the on-going fermenting process may end up doing more harm than good – the long kiam hu would become somewhat mushy and not so palatable.
Of course, this is not very healthy especially for those with hypertension or high blood pressure…but then, one usually does not eat very much of it since it is too salty and has to go with rice or porridge but then again, I’ve heard people saying that, normally, they would eat one plate of rice but if there’s long kiam hu, they will definitely have seconds. I guess that is where the danger lies. LOL!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
*DROOL* Guess what’s for my dinner tonite? LOL…last Chinese new year, Kat gave me ikan kering… and I finished up the whole fish by making curry. Den my mum top it up summore when I whine at her. ROFLOL. And guess what’s for dinner tonite? Kakakaka… just goreng ikan kering and eat it wif rice, kaotim. And the hubby will eat alot too… hoyeahhh~
What’s ikan kering? The regular ikan masin? I know the ikan kurau masin is very nice – bought once from Pangkor…but this long kiam hu is a different league altogether. Cooked curry? Here, some may use ikan salai (smoked fish) in their cooking. As for ikan masin, I only know they make acar with it or fry rice or taugeh.
Ya… the ikan masin la… =.= the ikan talang ones… very nice. Goreng and eat wif rice. The one I made curry doesn’t have much meat on it… very suitable to make karii ikan kering. The kari… if pair it with sambal belacan… OMG… damn nice. (cham liao, kempunan again)
Sounds yummy! This is my kind of cuisine… 😉
Have not heard of long kiam hu. Oni found in Sibu ka?
Cikgu..this lady ah will cook anything with kari or goreng one…no other way…ask her to eat kiam hu with porridge will probably kill her
The one-recipe lady lah! That’s about all she can cook. Muahahahahaha!!!! 😀 No leh…Claire says they can be found over at your side as well…and I think they put in claypot chicken rice – teeny weeny bits that you can hardly taste and enjoy it.
Haiz…the chicken rice one ah? really cannot taste..So far I found nice claypot chicken rice which I can “see” the kiam hu is Busy Corner.
Yup…when eating, sometimes, you may taste a bit…and are often not sure whether it was long kiam hu or not. Not enough for one to be certain… 😦
Oooo… mengumpat me ah… come back from MIA terus mengumpat me. Jahat!!! No ahh… i will eat with porridge… but dun like ma… prefer to eat wif rice… especially plain rice or claypot rice.
Hahahaha!!!! With friends like that, who need enemies? LOL!!! 😀
Oh yeah definitely smelly and also definitely calling for the senses esp on lunchtime! I usually drip the oil from frying this on my rice (if you have kampung rice even nicer) for special effects. Happy Sunday!
Gosh! But anyway, we keep the oil to be used for cooking veg or frying rice later… Guess that boils down to more or less the same thing. Hehehehehe!!! 😀
I oso drizzle the oil onto my rice… YUMMY, and can eat more than 2 bowls of rice just with that salted fish!
…and that is exactly where the danger lies…but no problem for you. Skin and bone…like ikan kering! LOL! 😀
Cleffairy, great tongues taste alike! hahaha
Connoisseurs… LOL!!!
Coffee Girl… lol… actually…I’m no expert… bad at a lot of things, but I’m good at one thing: EATING! LOL~!
Now I’m curious. What do the “a lot of things” include? Hehehehehe!!!! 😉
Haven’t been cooking this weekend so m longing for long kiam hu soon! 🙂
I guess you have your stock in your freezer? LOL!!! Goes well with steaming hot porridge – just perfect for cold winter nights. 🙂
YUP, salted fish always remind me of my late grandma, she loves to eat it every meal, lol… it tastes really fragrant and nice!^^
But these days, it’s so expensive that it is more a rich man’s indulgence – this type of salted fish, that is. 😦
SALIVATION!!!!!
I just woke up & now I see this… hungry as heck… time to go hunting in the concrete jungle.
You’ve nothing on this morning? Could have told me and we could have gone for brunch or something… Have to fatten you up a bit… 😉
Kiam hu! nice if taken in small slices, overdose on it, and you may see your heart rate increase, and thats when the headache starts. Lol!
This one you show here is special though, soft and moist on the inside?
This is the special what we call “long” type which is a lot nicer that the ordinary salted fish…and of course, a lot more expensive… 😦
Nice…nice…bay ka long kiam hu. Goes extremely well with rice or porridge. Tummy starts growling. Not too long ago, bought some and steam it with tofu…droooooling!!! Don’t take too often.
Yes…my cousin gave me, so good excuse to indulge a bit. Normally I would not go out and buy – don’t buy, don’t eat…that’s the best. Total abstinence. No point buying and eating a bit, cubit-cubit. Makan tak puas… 😦
The salted fish is long that’s why call ‘long kiam hu’..hahaha. Oh it actually the name of the place called ‘long wan’ in Cantonese just like the ‘danau’ salted fish so they shortened it to ‘long kiam hu’. Bananaz Beleaf It Or Not..
Ummmm…have you been drinking?
?????
????? 😀
Love kiam hu with teow chew porridge usually we eat ‘danau’ salted fish. Oh with high BP cant take too much ‘long kiam hu’? Thought after eating would live longer coz got ‘long’ mah? My old folks said those days salted fish got lots of worms and they are considered ‘healthy’ to eat. Nowadays can hardly see a single worm in salted fish..Why*Ask*Why? Becoz they sprayed too much chemical on the salted fish so much so even the worms cant even survive. Again Bananaz Beleaf It Or Not..~;).
You want worms, we have worms. Just go to the market here – but I do not like those with worms. Over-fermented/rotten…too mushy already and not so nice. I prefer the fresher ones…just made…not up to that stage yet.
Remind the sago worms…
That’s one thing that I’m not a fan of. Tried once, never again… Too lemak like chicken butt.😉
If I ever go Sarawak… I’ll be sure to eat that sago worm alive! Break off the head and slurp it down and then let my hubby go ‘eyewwww!’
Yup…they eat it alive! Anybody who loves buntut ayam would love it. I don’t. 😦
I never try it before even I was in Mukah for 3 years. Almost every time I went to market I will meet that little cute thing. It looks cute and beautiful.
I tried once as my daughter said she wanted to try – that was the first and the last time. Didn’t think it was really that great…
Chicken butt is one of my favorites. Chicken butt in the chicken soup is better than BBQ or deep fried one.
Eyewwwww….you can have that anytime…no, thank you!
I cannot have it every time because I only want my mum’s version of chicken butt. That is only available when she cooks chicken soup…
Never mind who cooks, I don’t want! LOL!!! 😀
Read an interesting post by blogger MKL about a Taiwanese blogger got jailed over critical restaurant review in Taichung. So foodie bloggers dont play play posting about food you dislike or dont like the bozz’s face hahaha.
Hit the jump.. *MKL*
You don’t know about the case here in our own country? That country? Wanted to ban Indomie mee goreng, gave McD and KFC all the bad press on their TV…and now who gets it all back? What goes around, comes around… Now, anything from that country, nobody’s going to buy and eat anymore.
Oops sorry some technical error on the link..on the blogger got jailed in Taiwan. Here you go..
Hit the jump.. *MKL*
Rancangan tergendala sebentar! LOL!!! 😀
Wow criticising “too salty” could land yourself in court so dont eat too much “long kiam hu” then hahaha. 30 days jail plus 200,000 NTD fine and 2 years probation is adding salt into injury. Think there are more to it than being ‘too salty’.
I criticise my long kiam hu, also my own long kiam hu – I fried it myself…so I sue myself kah?
You mean the plaintiff won the case…just because the customer said it was too salty? Whatever happened to the age-old maxim – the customer is always right?
I always say what I feel…and I always say that others may not agree – one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Like my missus likes it more salty, with more msg and lots of chilies – so what I like she may not like and vice versa. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion…and people who are not receptive to comments and criticisms and are not willing to change will never improve.
And they try to sabotage products of other countries, some more. Indomie mee goreng should actually go and sue them!!! That must be one hell of a stupid country with stupid laws.
Apparently, only some right customer is always right these days.
The boss is always right – everyone must kowtow to them. They’re rich, they think they rule the world! And they forget that the customers are the ones bringing in the money. Tsk! Tsk!😦
Geram… now that u mentioned that… the other day i went to eat steamboat with Kat and my kawans… and then the stove actually exploded…we complained and asked them to change for us and they tarik muka hitam at us. Summore never even apologize as if we’re the one who were wrong. Wahh… they use faulty equipment den dare to like this? Cari mampus… I yet to blog about this. Terrible service, terrible attitude… heard from my brother in law they patronized the same restaurant oso had unpleasant experience! TSK TSK TSK. And yet still so many nice reviews about them. 😦 Must blog about this soon… else my hidup tak senang. So bahaya… the thing could have injured all of us!
Gosh!!! That’s dangerous. Did you take photographs. Whatever it is, must have photos to back up claims… Then got evidence – can back up when sued!
Give me two bowls of white porridge please!!! lol….
I love this type of salted fish.. i call it “mui heong” over here, soft type… can place them over the minced pork and then steamed them.. that dish is enough to eat with rice….
Aha! So you do have this same kind of salted fish over there. Never seen it, so I was wondering… This type is so much nicer than the usual salted fish, right?
Ayoyo! Saliva dripping,man!!! My all time favourite. Any recipe that uses salted fish or just goreng like that sure syiok habis!! I can everyday makan ikan masin. For the last week, almost everyday I goreng ikan masin to eat with other dishes. Now I think my perut can fight with you…hehehehe.
My cousin gave me two. I think I will keep the other one for when you are here…and then we will cook something and sama-sama makan puas puas… LOL!!! 😉 Slurpssss!!!!
Wah…really ah? Like that have to take Concorde already…hehehe.Thanks!…eh, this particular ikan masin normally when you order nasi periuk/claypot rice, they’ll put a small teeny-weeny slice kan? Nyonya people call ikan kohok(smelly) but the meat is very buttery and melt in the mouth but super salty.Correct,ah?
Salty, depends on the fish – some very salty not so nice…some just right. This one’s just right…so come, come quick. Long kiam hu is waiting for you. LOL!!! Ooi…ask your hubby, where got Concorde now – you will have to take Airbus 380 – wide body… Muahahahaha!!!! Yup…that’s the one in the claypot rice and I always wished they would give more – so very little – could hardly taste it. 😦
Shereen, buat sambal tumis sedap lah. *DROOLS*
True, very true… Yum! Yum! 😉
I heard kiam hu is very expensive these days. Is long kiam hu only available in your part of the world? I usually buy those tenggiri in oil type of kiam hu. But I try not to take too much – very unhealthy. But that picture of the fried kiamhu is making me salivate.
I don’t know. But Claire says it’s called mui heong over there – probably, that’s in Cantonese. Tenggiri in oil? Don’t think I know that kind of salted fish. Something like budu? Ya…the long kiam hu is as good as it looks. Yum! Yum! LOL!!! 😀
o.o *salivates…drooooools* OMG…I LOOOOOOOOVE THIS ALSO!!! ALOT ALOT ALOT! T.T Hadn’t have this for a very long time.. 😦 yeah, my mom said it’s not good for health that’s why i really seldom get to eat it. everytime when we have this, i surely will have another bowl of rice! jeez, i really miss that! 😀 btw, just knew it’s called ngor hu…i always called it “geng yu” ;
Definitely, goes without saying – not good for health but so yummilicious! LOL!!! Just eat once in a long long time, not a problem lah. I dunno what’s ngor hu or geng yu – just know that it is good fish and very expensive – better quality and more expensive than bay kay (tenggiri) long kiam hu…
In Indonesia, we call salted fish, ikan asin.
We call the fish on your post, ikan asin jambal roti (roti=bread, because it’s softer).
I personally like to eat it with rice and sambal terasi/belacan- peasant style.
But it’s also commonly used in fried rice, and that’s amazing too.
Sigh* they have heaps in OZ but not in NZ…
They have it in Oz? Stella, my cousin in Melbourne, will get hers from here and stock them up in her freezer. Maybe it’s a lot more expensive there. Yes, great with fried rice too…and I just had a bit mixed with sambal udang kering (dried prawns) and it tasted out of this world. Yum! Yum! We call it ikan masin (in Malay) here – more or less, the same.
I used to like it, but somehow, nowadays whenever i have it, i become nauseated half an hour later and actually throws up… (oooh.. maybe it is a good way to lose weight.. HAHAHAHA)
Good grief! That sounds like bulimia…but looking at your shape and size, you can’t possibly be anorexic. LOL!! 😀 And thank goodness you’re not a woman or people will think you have morning sickness. Justthe smell will trigger that reaction. Muahahahaha!!!
When I was staying with my parents, we can have ikan masin like nobody’s business yet I dunno how to appreciate it that time. Felt like orang miskin makan ikan masin then… 😦 NOW… wanna eat oso tak dapat ! 😦
Yes,many things that were makanan orang miskin when I was young are now worth their weight in gold. Sobsss!!!! 😦
I like it when fried salted fish (in tiny cubes) mix with chopped shallots and lime juice. It’s really appetizing!
Cubes? Those would be the ordinary salted fish, not this type. Yes,that would be nice. They use to make acar…also nice. Yum! 😉
Salted fish… I like it. Making me miss my home and also mouthful water now.
Why? You can easily buy this in Kuching. Satok market there, a lot. I love the terubok masin too… Best lah! Drool!!! 🙂
I am not cooking at Kuching. No one will allow me to do so. Further I am not getting used to the kitchen in Kuching. When I see the kitchen, I feel a headache.
I also not advised to take lot of salted fish even though I like to have it with plain white rice.
Nothing is good if taken in large amounts. I wonder where you’re staying in Kuching – very strange, so many restrictions. Renting and sharing, I guess. Not easy to live with others – have to give and take…and many cannot.
My mother sister’s house. Do you think she will allow me to do that. Even doing housework, they also have different views and opinions. That is why I’d better keep quiet and not do anything rather than have a lot noises till my mum scolds me later.
Sometimes need to give and take as you said. Living with those you are not familiar with is better than living with relative. That is my personal opinion too.
I don’t have problems with my relatives or friends…but still, despite their asking me all the time, whenever I go anywhere, I would rather stay in a hotel…
Hotel is still the 1st choice for short staying but if the situation like me, sure I am going to bankrupt very very soon. I’m still stuck in Kuching with no sign of release for me to go back.
Lucky you… In Kuching. I’m kinda worried where they will post my daughter when she graduates. Teachers – can be in some really really remote place. 😦
That is right. Teachers can be anywhere where there is a school.
…and once in, it is very difficult to get out. 😦
Like me… once is there difficult to get out. That is why I stuck at Kuching for the time being.
Kuching, no need to complain lor… Btw, how come you are stuck at this old post? Not into all the newer posts?
Salted fish!! I like!!! If not because of health, i don’t mind to have it everyday. Nice!
Not too sure, is this salted fish, can cook in another way, which is steam and add some vinegar or something inside? I remember when i am young, my grandma use to steam that, i take a bit and eat big mouth of rice.
I think so. They put on top of tofu and steam. My father likes that a lot! Will eat extra rice…
Steamed salted ikan long with toufu is fantastic. I wish I can have it right now with a bowl of hot white rice…. ehmm…. actually I need nasi tambah… extra bowl please.
i think this fish have lot of bone……eeekk..i dont touch fish which has lots of bone…
Nope, no bones. Just the big one in the middle…like pomfrets (bawal putih/hitam)
Laaa… ling, this one ikan isi lah… tarak bones…the bones one is called ikan gelama, I tink… tht one i oso like, but dun really dare to eat. (but suka punya pasal, makan jugak)
Ya, this fish no bones…and very sweet, very nice. Something like those imported snowfish or cod.
The salted bone in the middle also can be eaten. I always took the bone out and eat it with rice and it is very juicy inside if it is steamed.
What kind of fish is that? milk fish? 🙂
No idea… I don’t really know the names of fish – some in English, some in Chinese, some in Malay…and many, I don’t know at all – just eat. This one is called “ngor hu” in Chinese.
omg!! gimme some!! T.T
Come and get it… 😉
my favourite ikan masin! i can finish it all by myself…i used to eat half of the fish (ikan masin) and yes…tambah nasi a few times….memang sedap! we call it Ikan Buduk Long…its actually ikan tenggiri masin. cheers STP!
Now better go slow on stuff like this. Growing “bigger” and not that young anymore. Tenggiri is different – I would buy one little slice once in a blue moon at the market here, tenggiri…but this one’s a different type of fish. Supposed to be better…
this made me drool. maybe cause I know it is delicious
It is… Yum! Yum!
That is a very thick piece of salted fish. I have only seen those small flat dry ones here sold in supermarkets.
They do not come cheap though… 😦