Kay Hong (Terengganu Braised Chicken)

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.

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.

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.

Shallots, garlic, beanpaste and gula Melaka.

The eggs are the best especially after two days.  Our Kay Hong lasts until day 3 of Chinese New Year.

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 "