RECIPE: TKG's Chicken Sibut

Chicken Sibut is a chicken dish cooked in spices for a long period of time until the meat absorbs the flavor and becomes so tender that it falls off the bone. It is also a Chinese medicinal dish that is not only nourishing but promotes good health as well. Traditionally, I think this is better cooked in a claypot. Below is an easy to follow recipe that I made recently.

Ingredients:

1 whole black chicken (I used free-range chicken)
1 packet sibut (the one pictured below)
slices of ginger
salt
water (4-5 cups)

Clean the chicken well and cut into desired pieces. You can opt to cooked it whole but I prefer it sliced into pieces because I believe that the flavor will be absorbed better. Place the chicken in a pot and add the water. A recipe that I've read requires sauteing garlic and ginger in oil and frying the chicken a bit. I skipped this part since the chicken has already lots of oil (from the skin), and I don't have any available organic garlic. I let the chicken boil in the water for about 20 minutes before I added the contents from the sibut pack. I waited for another 15 minutes before I threw in the ginger slices (I used turmeric). Then it took another hour or more to reduce the water until only about a cup is left. The chicken was also already very tender by that time. The sauce becomes a bit sticky because of the licorice (from the sibut pack). Serve while hot.


The sibut pack consists of barks and seeds that I cannot really name except for the licorice since it looks familiar. I'll try to research more about what's in the sibut pack so stay tuned for updates. :)