Initially I did not have this dish in mind when participating in the Malaysian Food Fest Terengganu. It is a very simple dish but when I saw my cousin Hwee Lan's post on MFF Malaysia Facebook page, I thought it would be great to share my family's version of this dish. This dish is also known as Kay Char Eam and Hwee Lan's recipe is the traditional version.
What you need is chicken (and pork belly if you like), garlic, salt and cooking oil. The simple combination of garlic and salt does a wonderful job of making this dish so tasty.
Traditionally the chicken is boiled first, then the meat shredded before being fried with garlic and salt. I have not tasted that version and my grandma and mum cook it differently. The chicken is not boiled but marinated with the garlic and salt before cooking. And grandma insists that the addition of pork belly adds a bit more punch to this dish. I will have to agree :)
What you need is chicken (and pork belly if you like), garlic, salt and cooking oil. The simple combination of garlic and salt does a wonderful job of making this dish so tasty.
Traditionally the chicken is boiled first, then the meat shredded before being fried with garlic and salt. I have not tasted that version and my grandma and mum cook it differently. The chicken is not boiled but marinated with the garlic and salt before cooking. And grandma insists that the addition of pork belly adds a bit more punch to this dish. I will have to agree :)
I will also share my grandma's recipe for the chilli sauce which goes very well with this dish.
The recipe below is my family recipe and I basically eye balled the measurement of the ingredients.
Kay Khong Eam (Chicken with Garlic and Salt)
Ingredients
- 2 chicken legs, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 pork belly, cut into 1/2 inch strips
- 8 cloves of garlic
- salt to taste
- oil for frying
Method :
- Take 3 cloves of garlic and pound with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Use this garlic paste to marinate the chicken and pork belly. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Crush and roughly chop 5 cloves of garlic.
- Heat oil in frying pan and fry garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt, for about 1 minute.
- Add pork belly and fry until meat turns opaque. Add some water and let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add chicken and fry until meat turns opaque. Add some water and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until chicken is cooked.
- Taste and add more salt of necessary.
- At the final stage, keep frying until the dish is fairly dry and slightly browned.
Grandma's Chilli Sauce (Hancheo Cheow)
Ingredients
- 10 fresh chillies (deseed if you want less heat)
- 15 dried chillies, soaked to soften (deseed if you want less heat)
- 2 loves garlic
- 2 heaped tablespoons bean paste (taucheow)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 100g gula Melaka
- 400 ml vinegar
Method
- Blend chillies, garlic and beanpaste
- In a saucepan mix vinegar, bleanded ingredients, sugar and gula Melaka
- Boil the mixture until it slightly thick, about 15 to 20 minutes
- If you find it too thick/sour, you can add a bit of water.
- Adjust for taste, it should be sweet, sour and salty.
- store in a clean jar and keep in the fridge.
Note : This chilli sauce can be kept for up to 2 month is the fridge.
I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Terengganu Month hosted by Lena of frozen wings.
Wow! Every dish looks even more delicious than the last! I will bookmark this for future cook..thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJeannie, you are welcome! Try this simple dish, you will want more rice and chilli sauce :)
DeleteHi Phong Hong
ReplyDeleteThough this dish look simple in ingredients, it is all how you cooked it till it taste scrumptious and delicious. Next time I really got to try the chilli sauce...it is a big portion you've made here. Today is the last day for Terengganu momth food fest....anymore post? Thank you Phong Hong for sharing the delicious recipes with us.
Mel, you are welcome! It's a very appetizing dish, the chilli sauce make it even better. This is my last MFF post, but don't worry, I will still share more TGG food in the coming months :)
DeleteGarlic and salt? They do that with pork or fish fillet or prawns here at the chu-char places...but they coat with cornflour and deep fry first. Best eaten there, not so nice if tapao home as not so crispy/crusty anymore when cold.
ReplyDeleteArthur, this one is different. No coating of cornflour and it's not crispy. But it is full of flavours :)
DeleteLooks ugly, tastes heavenly... I like to kapik wt loti...
ReplyDeleteI agree it is ugly! No glamour at all but so sedap. Ya lah, very nice with loti, yum!
DeleteWell, I wouldn't call it 'ugly'...the moistness, and the flavor is all there; even if there's no color, but the color of the chilli sauce added on to the chicken pieces would solve the presentation! I love old recipes handed down by our grandmothers, and yours is delicious! Thanks for sharing Phong Hong:xo
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Elisabeth! Yes, grandma and mum's recipes are real treasures!
DeleteWhere do you find the time to make so many dishes? And some truly complicated ones to boot. This one is simple and nice ... just how I like to cook :) And it sounds super yummy too! I shall attempt this one for sure.
ReplyDeletePing, when it comes to food, I will find time :) This recipe is one of my favourites because it is so simple and so good. You should try the chilli sauce too.
DeleteOh my! Lau-nuar lor! anything with pork belly will make me drool! Looks so delicious. Simple and good! Will be bookmarking this to try. My family loves garlic, my kids would eat them raw, when chopped to fine pieces mixed with a little see yau and they have that with noodles and rice whenever we eat at Chinese restaurants! The chilli sauce sounds good too. Thanks for sharing another one of your delicious recipes!
ReplyDeleteHi Joyce, glad to know your are a pork belly lover and garlic lover! That's great your kids love raw garlic. Me too! My mum and aunt are also a garlic lovers and at the Chinese restaurant, we will be calling out to the helpers to replenish the garlic. And we are not shy about it! It's always a pleasure to share recipes and I hope that you try the chilli sauce too.
DeleteHi Phong Hong, I bring tupperware to tapau. LOL
ReplyDeleteLove the simple yet delicious chicken dish, the chili sauce look sooo good.
Thanks for sharing the recipes, good for full time working mother. Come home still can have a quickie delicious meal instead of eat outside. :)
Have a nice week ahead.
Hi Amelia, yes this is a quikie dish. You must try the chilli sauce, it's also very nice with keropok.
DeleteHi Phong Hong, my friend did this dish just with pork belly [blanched first and marinate with lots of salt] and then fried with garlic until golden brown. Add little water to simmer till tender but has a bite. I'll definitely try your Huancheo Chor and the chicken...
ReplyDeleteKimmy, your friend's dish sounds similar to this one. Sure very yummy as it is fried till golden brown. Yes, do try the huancheo chor, it goes very well with the dish.
Deletethats my fav chicken fry..
ReplyDeleteGarlic and salt does a lot of magic!
DeleteMil used to cook this. sedap
ReplyDeleteMy mum tells me your MIL's cooking very good :)
DeleteThis chicken dish looks easy to prepare. Will suit lazy me just fine.... thanks so sharing!
ReplyDeleteCheah, you had me laughing there!
Deletethis look exactly like what i did with leftover white cut chicken, hehehe..but i know this is yummy!
ReplyDeleteSonia, the traditional way is to make white cut chicken first, then only fry with the garlic. So your style is sama like the traditional one :) My grandma, mum and I we do shortcut method hee..hee..
DeleteSounds simple but yet delicious! I like having food with dipping sauce. Your chili sauce looks really appertizing! Got to try one day. Thanks for all the delicious dishes.
ReplyDeleteVivian, you are most welcome. This dish is fuss free, easy and good. You will like the chilli sauce :)
Deletethis is another mouthwatering dish! i'm so tired and hungry now!!it's really unique adding some pork belly there. I think it's really good eating with that chilli sauce! thanks so much for your entry again, Phong Hong!!
ReplyDeleteLena, my pleasure! It has been a fun month on MFF Terengganu. I even discovered a long lost cousin and a long lost primary school mate :)
DeleteI'm not familiar with this dish but, based on all the comments, I'm sure it's a winner.
ReplyDeleteChef, try this. It's good!
DeleteFunny, i was just thinking of a salt and garlic dish...want to cook something like that tomorrow...this sounds yummy, PH. Simple recipes like these are the best. Definitely gonna try this one soon. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteEsther, this dish is up your alley as it is fuss free! I like simple recipes too and I hope you try this :)
DeleteLooks simple and delicious!!! And I love that both the chicken and the chilli sauce are family recipes...they're the best!
ReplyDeleteHi Lizzy, our mum and gran's recipes are the best and are our treasures!
DeleteHi Phong Hong,
ReplyDeleteMy mil use to fried our left over white cut chicken like this. It's very tasty.
Your Kay Khong Eam looks so mouthwatering. I believe this way of cooking maintain the sweetness of the Kay. Between I have posted my Kay Hong yesterday, if you are free do drop by to see if I have pass the test of cooking the dish :p
Thanks for sharing all your awesome Terengganu recipes !
mui..^^
Hi Mui Mui! This simple dish is one of my all time favorites. Ah, I actually saw your Kay Hong in the roundup this morning! Will hop over now :)
DeleteBeautiful, as always!
ReplyDeleteThank you, cquek!
DeleteHi girl, quickly come here to grab the recipe, late now for m, have to go to sleep! No chilli in this dish sounds brilliant to me
ReplyDeleteHi Jessie, yeah very suitable for you, won't irritate your throat. But I know you like the chilli sauce heh...heh.....
DeleteI love learning about new dishes. Garlic is something I couldn't live without. Thanks for sharing:)
ReplyDeleteNancy, I can't live without garlic too!
DeleteHi Phong Hong my!my! your kay kiong yiam makes my mouth lau nuar ti-tek ti-tek.your samcham bak with the thick layer of fat make me feel pugok lapor .On wish tangang aku boleh masuk . dalam computer and ambek keluar itu kay kong yiam.nampok sedikit satu mangkut kechit saja aloh dua pingang besor rice mesti aku bloh makang.Kagang aku nok try buat sudoh ambek ayam dan samcham bak keluar to defrost.tengok tok boleh tahan lagi .Shioknya!You ni torture aku degang masokang mu macham macham luat.Apa lagi nok masok?Pang Pooi
ReplyDeleteEE, guane sampai titek titek? Cepat ambik tissue paper and wipe :) Now nok masok masakan Kedah and Perlis. First time try, hope can jadi.
DeletePhong Hong you ni mesti jadi ogan yang pandai masok macham mana pun boleh kadang kadang aku tipu sikit pun rasa sedak. keep on trying success will come to you
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you. Kembang hidung aku.
DeletePetang aku masok kay kong yiam.Malunya aku ni.Tok jadi ayam aku tok sama macham lu punya kering aku punyna tok kering .Adoi! malu aku ni tetapi pun makang juga aku ni tok pandai macham Phong Hong
ReplyDeleteEE, mesti ikut resipi. Jangan buat shortcut :)
Delete