Cooking with Cekur Root, 沙姜

Another interesting herb I want to introduce today :D I first get to know this ingredient is through my mother-in-law. She uses it to marinate seafood especially prawn as she said that it helps to mask the fishy smell, if any, and to enhance the taste of the seafood. It is indeed an interesting herb with a very intense earthy fragrant, much more flavorful than galangal 南姜 and old ginger 老姜. 

I googled on web and find out that this sand ginger is commonly used on chicken dished as they matches very well! So one fine day I try to experiment some of the powder by baking a chicken. It turns out fantastic!! My hubby commented that it tasted exactly the baked chicken we had in Hangzhou by a famous stall called 吴山烤鸡!! hehehe so maybe this is the main ingredient that they used that made their baked chicken so popular for the last 20 over years!? Besides baking chicken, it can be used in stir-frying and steaming. I've tried the stir-fried version and it taste good also! Will try out the steaming version soon :D

沙姜 Sand Ginger or 山奈, also known as Cekur Root in Malay

 Fresh Version

Dried Version which is toasted

Toasted and grind into powder

Stir-fry Cekur Root with Chicken

沙姜炒鸡丁

Ingredient

• 3 boneless chicken leg, cubed
• 2 tbsp cekur root powder
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• dash of sesame oil and pepper
• 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

Method

1. Marinate chicken cube with cekur powder, egg white, salt, cornflour, sesame oil and pepper for at least 30mins.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan, saute ginger until fragrant and golden brown.
3. Add in marinated chicken cube and fry until golden brown. Add in seasoning and mix well. Dish up and serve.

Baked Cekur Chicken， 山奈烤鸡

I baked the chicken over the stove using my grill pan, which is quite similar to Happy Call Pan, but I got this Korean brand pan much more earlier before the craze of HCP! 

Before & After Baking over stove...

山奈烤鸡
Ingredient

• 1 small chicken, spatchcocked (butterfly)
• 2 tbsp cekur root powder
• 1 tsp five spice powder
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp honey

Method

1. Mix all the marinate together to form into a paste.
2. Rub the seasoning all over the chicken inside out. Marinate overnight.
3. Thaw completely before baking. Bake over stove for 35mins on medium low heat or bake in oven at 200 deg cel for 35 mins until golden brown.