Followers

Sunday, February 28, 2016

THERMAL COOKER - AYAM SIOH

Ayam Sioh or Sioh Chicken is a Nyonya dish.  It is a home-cooked favourite in most Nyonya households with minimal ingredients easily found in the kitchen.
The combination of coriander powder, tamarind and taucheong [preserved bean paste] with  seasoning of sugar and salt give this dish its' sweet, savoury and sourish tasty that is very appetising.
Here, I used the Thermal Cooker to cook this dish which is so much easier and hassle-free.  There is no necessity to watch over the stove until the chicken is tender and gravy has thickened.  Just fry the ingredients until fragrant, add in the necessary liquid, bring to boil and leave the remaining cooking process in the Thermal Cooker.   This preparation takes about 15-20 minutes only and in 2 hours the dish is ready to be served.  
I did this in the morning before leaving home and by dinner time, the tasty chicken is ready and still warm in the cooker.  I cooked half portion of this recipe but it is worthy to cook the whole portion if you have a big family of 6 cos' it is good.
The recipe is adapted from Nyonya Flavours [my selected cookbook for Cookbook Countdown Event - February 2016]. 
Ingredients [slightly modified]
1.5 kg chicken whole legs [I used drumsticks]
15 shallots - pounded and extract the juice and keep the juice
2 heaped tbsp preserved bean paste [taucheong]
50 gm coriander powder
100 gm tamarind pulp dissolve in 250 ml water - discard the pulp
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp sugar to taste
1 tsp salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil
extra water
  1. Heat up thermal cooker pot, add in oil, shallot pulp, saute until aromatic and brown. 
  2. Add in bean paste and chicken, stir to mix ingredients well, then add in coriander powder and dark soy sauce.
  3. Give it a good stir and pour in shallot juice, tamarind juice and some water.  Add in seasoning, bring to boil, then simmer for about 6-10 minutes.
  4. Off heat, cover the pot, transfer to the outer pot and close the lid.  
  5. Leave the chicken to cook for a further 2 hours.
  6. Serve with rice.

Note - If using normal wok, add enough water to cover chicken, bring to boil and simmer until it is cooked and gravy is thick.
I'm submitting this post to Cookbook Countdown 2 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking [Makan2] Foray


12 comments:

Emily said...

Oh my, this is scrumptious! and I love cooking with thermal cooker too! Saves energy and less time tied to the stove! Very nice post!

kitchen flavours said...

Hi Kimmy,
I can almost smell the fragrance of this dish! Looks delicious! The kind of dish that is great with rice, no need other dishes! Thanks for sharing all the mouth-watering dishes you've cooked from this book!

Aunty Young(安迪漾) said...

Hi kimmy,
Just look at the picture, I know this Ayam Sioh is flavourful, tender and juicy.
Sure have more rice when go with it.

PH said...

Hi Kimmy! I have come across this recipe but I have not tried. Since you highly recommend it, then I should go ahead and cook some Ayam Sioh!

Veronica said...

Hi Kimmy, your ayam sioh looks mouth-watering good. But I must admit I haven't tried this ayam sioh before. And cooking in a thermal cooker saves so much time but do you think there is a difference in taste compared with cooking the traditional way?

Kimmy said...

Hi Emily, I'm starting to love cooking meat dishes with the Thermal Cooker. It does reduce the time at the stove.

Kimmy said...

Hi Joyce, we had this dish with rice and a simple stir fry vege and that's a easy meal complete with all the nutrition for the day.

Kimmy said...

Hi Aunty Young, yes the chicken is tender and absorbs all the flavours withing the 2 hours in the pot. Less time is spent in the kitchen watching over the store.

Kimmy said...

Hi Phong Hong, I have tried Amy Beh's recipe before which was always good and has seen this recipe long ago, too. Finally did it cos' of the Thermal Cooker. Great way and dish to prepare during busy days. Didn't have to tapau meals.

Kimmy said...

Hi Veronica, some ppl did tell me that flavour and taste are different but I have cooked curry chicken using this pot. It was so good. I think it is the frying of the ingredients and liquid portion that affects the taste. With this pot, not much liquid is needed to cook the ingredients. Best to make sure that the ingredients are well fried until aromatic and fragrant before adding the liquid to boil/simmer.

TeaLady said...

I am drooling over this one.

Kimmy said...

Hi TeaLady, I'm sure you can cook this aromatic, flavourful dish in the US. The ingredients are easily available at Asian stores.