This is Terengganu month on the Malaysian Food Fest and as a Terengganu native, I am all geared up and fired up. Seriously, I am so excited and I am coming out full force in support of Lena, this month's host.
For a start, I am introducing Kay Hong. This Terengganu Nyonya dish is similar to the Melaka Pongteh. With an exception. Our version uses a dark sweet sauce called "kayciap" (mentioned in this post) which gives this dish a distinct taste. I have grown up with this dish and the recipe I am sharing belongs to my grandmother.
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| Kayciap. |
We add hardboiled eggs to our Kay Hong and time and time again, it is the eggs that steal the show. The eggs braised in the Kay Hong gravy become very tasty.
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| My family are egg lovers. |
When serving this dish, we notice a certain trend among family members. Some will only eat the pork belly, selecting the juiciest and fattiest parts (that would be my Mum). Some will only eat the chicken. And then there's the occasional oddball who will only eat the eggs. So if you ever attempt this dish, be sure to have a good number of eggs.
My grandmother used to cook this dish quite often and it is always served during our Chinese New Year reunion dinner. Any leftovers will be reheated and this dish always tastes better the following day.
The recipe below is suitable for 4 persons.
Kay Hong (Terengganu Braised Chicken)
Ingredients :
- 2 chicken legs (cut into bite sized pieces)
- 1 pork belly (cut into 1 inch slices)
- 6 hardboiled eggs
- 15 shallots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp preserved bean paste (taucheow)
- 2 tbsp kayciap (or ABC sauce/sweet soya sauce)
- 2 tbsp dark soya sauce
- Palm sugar (gula Melaka) to taste
- 700 ml water (adjust for consistency, use less for thicker gravy)
Method :
- Blend shallots, garlic and taucheow. Saute the blended paste until fragrant.
- Add pork belly and fry for about 10 minutes.
- Add water, kayciap/sweet soya sauce, dark soya sauce, gula Melaka and hard boiled eggs.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes before adding chicken.
- Simmer until chicken is cooked and tender.
Serve with white rice and sambal belacan.
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| Shallots, garlic, beanpaste and gula Melaka. |
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| The eggs are the best especially after two days. Our Kay Hong lasts until day 3 of Chinese New Year. |
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| See the fatty "sam chan bak" (pork belly)? My Mum will book that in advance. |
I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Terengganu Month hosted by Lena of frozen wings "
Wah, wah, wah, wah..... that was fast entry for the Terengganu (October) Month for the MFF!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this is the first time I heard of this dish ... "Kay Hong Terengganu Braised Chicken". What is "Kay Hong"? Chicken and Pork Belly in one dish. But it sure looks really delicious.
Mel, your response also very fast, lor! In Hokkien "Kay" is chicken and "Hong" means to braise, hence Kay Hong is Braised Chicken. The pork belly is optional, but the dish tastes better with pork :)
DeleteLook very nice for this Braised Chicken & Pork. Really can add 1 more bowl of rice!
ReplyDeleteYah, Joceline, this one must be eaten with lots of rice!
DeleteInstead of Hong Bak now you have Hong Kay, i know this is delicious, need plenty of rice to go with it..So your hometown is from Terengganu right? I have no idea what to cook for this month MFF, will look into cookbook to search for idea..
ReplyDeleteSonia, Klang people call Hong Bak, eh? Terbalik from us hee..hee...Eh, you can make roti paun, saw it in your earlier post.
DeleteNo, Hong Bak is cook with pork but not chicken ler..
DeleteOh....***blur***
DeletePantai Timur Chinese grammar differs slightly from Pantai barat Chinese in that the former takes on the form of Malay grammar in some places. This also depends on how far inland the Chinese speaker is. In KT, we usually say gua eh kao pang sai (my dog pooed). But in Tiruk, say, some might say kao gua pang sai (in the form of anjing saya berak). But generally, Terengganu Hokkien tends to have reversed forms compared to Chinese in other parts of Malaysia. Eldest brother could be addressed as Ko Tua (older generations use this term) while in other parts of Malaysia it's Tua Ko. This could be due to Malays calling their eldest brother Abang Long. Fried beehoon is Beehoon Cha while others say Cha Beehoon. In fact, my older relatives refer to Char Kuayteow as Kuayteow Cha. Perhaps it's the influence of mihun goreng, kuayteow goreng etc. Hence, kay hong.
Deletealmost like hong bak that i saw in a nyonya cookbook, minus the ketumbar :)
ReplyDeleteI've never seen chicken with pork and this is really special
Wendy, there are many similarities among the Nyonya dishes. Got macam-macam version. This one is my family's favorites :)
DeleteHi Phong Hong, in Penang we call Hong Bak but seldom see a mixture of pork and chicken. I remembered on my wedding eve, my aunt prepared this dish with pork belly and pig trotters. I can still recall the strong aroma of ketumbar and she also added cekur roots. How I wish more people are preparing this dish during wedding feasts.
ReplyDeleteKimmy, I have cooked the Hong Bak with ketumbar once before and I like it very much. Very fragrant. You are right, these traditional dishes should be cooked more often and served during special occasions.
DeleteLooks so delicious! Yes, really, really similar to our Pongteh, except that the eggs replacing the potatoes! I know that my family would really like this!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Joyce, this is the Terengganu version of the Pongteh. It is a bit on the sweet side as people from the east coast like sweet tasting food.
DeleteChicken? I see a lot of pork...and I think I would very much prefer pork....and I love the eggs too! Yummmmmssss!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, its called kay hong and yet there is samchan bak in there too, to make it more exciting :)
DeleteYa, we Klang valley Hokkien will call it 'Hong Bak' My mom used to cook something pretty similar but she will use lean pork as we kids don't fancy fatty pork. She normally add some eggs and fried tofu to it :)
ReplyDeleteI like that version too. If I eat that, I would usually focus on the eggs and fried tofu. Its great with porridge.
DeleteHow perfect! Kay Hong by Phong Hong :)
ReplyDeleteI like the ingredients combination (tau cheow and gula melaka) ... can just imagine the flavors! Yum!
Geez, Ping! I did not realise it rhymes! The ingredient combination is very good, if you like Pongteh, you will like this.
Deleteoi cher chey phong hong, you made my patto jip hong liao...how about kei char eam...? missed that too... with lots of kei and samchan bak!
ReplyDeleteAhhahaha! You must be a Terengganu boy, guane gamok! Must be my relative from the looks of it, I'm practically related to everybody in Kampung Cina. Ok, ok, I will cook kei char eam (I call it kay khong eam) and put it up too. You are that anak kucing punya pok kah?
Deletepua kang tao liao... neway, nice to see u here... mung macang detektif... sedara sedara gok ah tu...
DeleteThanks to your sister. Dia tu pandai sunggoh, buleh buak CSI.
DeleteHi Phong Hong,
ReplyDeleteYou are so knowledgeable with your cooking and your Kay Hong looks superb.
Zoe
Thank you, Zoe! I am familiar with Terengganu food and I'm happy to share with everyone :)
Deletegood morning phong hong, glad that i'm able to come in now. I'm so touched to read that you're coming out to support MFF in full force!! thanks so much!! oh, i remember your kiacap secret recipe from your grandma! so does your name phong 'hong' anything to do with kay'hong'? lol..just kidding. i'm sure the gravy tastes marvelous! i will also book the fatty belly first and the eggs too! thanks so much for sharing this dish coming from your hometown, looking forward to learn more!
ReplyDeleteHi Lena, I am only too happy to share food from my hometown. Hah! Hah! Kay Hong does rhyme with Phong Hong :) There will be more recipes to come!
DeleteLove this recipe PH! I am sure my family would love this. I can use all pork belly too right? And maybe add potatoes?? :p
ReplyDeleteEsther, glad you like this. Yah, go ahead and use all pork belly and feel free to add potatoes too!
DeleteAiyo! This dish makes me mouth watering and ask for more rice. How do lose weight? lol.
ReplyDeleteVeronica, I also don't know how to lose weight! These days keep putting on :)
DeleteI was here last night but then my computer was "shot shot dei," showed a virus message that's why I couldn't leave a message here. By the way, when I was pregnant with my boy, I always craved for a dish similar to this & I had to buy from Thai hawker food stall to satisfy my craving, hahaha! My mum made a similar version & we usually cooked without the fermented bean paste. Would love to give this a try but hoh, I won't use too much of shallots becoz they are expensive, hehehe!
ReplyDeleteJessie, I think I know the Thai dish you mentioned! It is cooked with only pork and eggs. I saw the recipe, wanted to try but still havent do it. It must be very delicious too.
DeleteFrom the way you named the dish I know you are hokkien:D I also will book the eggs if I cook this type of dish! Yummy!
ReplyDeleteJeannie, hah! hah!, yes I am Hokkien. I also think the eggs are the best part :)
DeleteHi Phong Hong, guess who hinted to your cousins who Phong Hong is. Heehee. Yours truly, of course.
ReplyDeleteHeh..heh...Kor Kor so clever! Now I cannot hide anymore :)
DeleteThis is very similar to our pong teh.....guess wht?....I'm cooking this dish right now....hehehe...this 'baby' still on the stove.....simmering...lol..& i did taste a bit just now, very tasty......:)
ReplyDeleteWow! Cindy, glad to know you are actually cooking this. Yes, very similar to Pongteh and just as good :)
DeleteGosh! This dish looks so delicious! Never thought of combining pork and chicken. Bookmark!
ReplyDeleteHi there! Pork, chicken and eggs, it grows on you!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Poh Hong,
ReplyDeleteI am attracted by your Kay Hong (braised chicken)..:)
M going to cook this tomorrow. Just like to know if i can just pound the shallots, garlic and mashed the taucheow then mixed them together? Will that be ok?
I make a typing mistake up there so i deleted it..sorry about that..:p
Thank you.
mui..^^
Oops! i type your name wrongly this time..clumsy me..:p
ReplyDeleteAgain.. sorry about that..^^
Mui Mui, I can see you are very excited about the Kay Hong! Yes, you can just pound the shallots and garlic and mash the taucheow. Actually that is how my grandma does it, she pounds the shallots, garlic and taucheow. Myself lazy, that's why I use blender :)
DeleteHi Phong Hong,
DeleteI actually have cooked the Kay Hong after i asked you about using pound or blend method. I am lazy to pound too sometime, it happen that my blender break down..:p
Thank you for your advise and this lovely recipe.
My family love love love this Kay Hong. Especially the eggs...so yummy with the gravy. I will post and share it soon.
I like your blog, will drop by again to learn more recipes from you.
Thanks again Phong Hong..:)
mui..^^
Thank you, Mui Mui! It is my pleasure and so happy that your Kay Hong turned out and that you and family love it :)
DeleteHi, just to share with you that i tried out your family recipe and it was very well received! Chin ho chiak! Only thing is I used all pork (ribs and belly), wonder what would be the name in tgganu hokkien, bak hong?? Thanks for recipe!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! Thanks for trying and yeah, since you used all pork can call bak hong. Hah! Hah!
DeleteFellow Terengganu girl here. My grandma loves to cook this for us too. SHe just taught me how to cook them using her methods. Thank you for sharing yours so I can always refer when I forget. =D
ReplyDeleteHey there, you! That's great that your grandma taught you how to cook this iconic dish :) You are kinda young from what I gather in your blog. Cheers!
DeleteMy friend made this dish for our potluck yesterday and it was delicious!
ReplyDeleteGlad that you like the dish!
Delete