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Tuesday, April 06, 2010

“8 Treasures” Sarikei Chicken Herbal Soup

This super easy chicken soup will make you feel warm all over.

“Bek Ting / Ba Zheng” – 8 Treasures

pek ting 8 treasures8 treasures pek ting

A few of our friends here hail from Sarikei, a town about 5 hours’ drive from Kuching. They are quite proud of their town, especially of some of their well-known food products such as mee sua noodles, Sarikei pineapples, and kompia bread. What really piqued our interest, though, was mention of the special “Sarikei chicken”.

Big and Bold

Our friend tells us that there are actually two types of Sarikei chicken – the kampung (village) chicken and the non-local chicken. Basically, the kampung chicken is descended from local chickens, is allowed to roam freely outside, and is slaughtered at 7 months, about 1 kg in weight. Since it is a free range it has a deeper color and flavor compared to factory farmed birds.

The second type of chicken is not descended from local stock but instead imported as chicks. The farmers raise them in limited compounds on chicken feed for 3 months and then dry corn for 4 or more months until they reach between 2-3 kgs. The way these chickens are raised somehow causes the meat to become more tender while still having “free range” flavor.

These chickens are not easy to come by, as they are raised on small family farms and sold mostly to people “in the know”. They aren’t cheap, either. The bird that we bought through our friend was about 2 kg and cost us a whopping 42 Ringgit (which works out to roughly USD $2.80 per pound)!

Sarikei Chicken

sarikei chicken

There are a few popular ways to cook a Sarikei chicken, but the best recipe happens to be one of the simplest: 8 Treasures Herbal Soup. The “8 Treasures” (“bek ting” in Hokkien, “ba zheng” in Mandarin) refers to the 8 different types of dried herbs that are used in this dish. Interestingly, they aren’t always the same 8 ingredients; they vary slightly depending on who assembles the packages.

In this particular package, we have ginseng, angelica, sliced yam, Solomon’s Seal, clematis, gingko nuts, goji berries, and chinese dates. We placed the herbs (minus the fruit) into a large pot with a couple liters of water and brought it to a boil. We boiled the herbs for about half an hour to extract the flavor.

8 Treasures Herbal Soup

chinese herbs

Then we added half the Sarikei chicken, cut into pieces. Covered the pot and reduced the heat to simmer. After about 45 minutes we added the fruits and simmered another 15 minutes.

chicken herbal soup

You could skim off the fat at this stage, or turn off the heat, let the pot cool and then keep it in the fridge overnight. The next day you can scoop off the congealed fat before reheating the soup. Serve in individual bowls. Some people take out the herbs but I don’t mind eating them as they’ve softened due to the boiling.

8 Treasures Sarikei Chicken Herbal Soup

sarikei chicken herbal soup

The different herbs add different flavors to the soup. The ginseng of course adds an earthy bitterness while the nuts, dates and berries add a balancing sweetness to the soup. But the real star is the Sarikei chicken.

You know that feeling that comes over you when you take that first sip of a really yummy, homemade chicken soup? That warm, comforting, “ahhhhh”-ffect that soothes your body and soul? This Sarikei chicken’s deep flavor intensifies that feeling two-fold. The slurp-a-liciousness is good to the last drop.

Aloha, Nate

7 Comments:

Sharlene T. said...

I'm sure it's absolutely divine, but must you 'slurp' -- does your MaMa know? Gosh, this sounds like such a great soup. Thanks so much for sharing...

Noob Cook said...

I can smell the herbal aroma from here. hehe love soups like this!

Food Gal said...

My aunt used to make something like this. I remember how much it did indeed smell like chicken soup "medicine.'' As a kid, I was rather afraid of it. But as an adult, I must say it is one wonderfully complex bowl of goodness.

Pete said...

Mmm, Chinese herbal soup....nice with a little cili padi with soya sauce....then we are not suppose to eat with spicy stuff....LOL!

Pete said...

Added your link to my blogroll....will drop by again! cheers!

Nate @ House of Annie said...

@all - thanks for your comments!

@Sharlene - I like to drink the soup hot, so I have to slurp to draw in some cooling air along with the soup.

@FoodGal - yeah, a lot of the herbs are the same as found in Chinese herbal medicine teas. I didn't like them because they were so bitter. But now I appreciate bitter more.

@Pete - this soup is pretty heaty as it is! Thanks for the link!

Daniel Yiek said...

This article is now posted on facebook link

http://groups.to/sarikeians/

Tell Sarikei friends about
http://sarikei-time-capsule.blogspot.com/