The making of chicken cooked in bamboo or 'Ayam Pansuh'

The making of chicken cooked in bamboo..
The above picture is half of the story...slices of chicken mixed well with other ingredients prior to inserting them into the bamboo

Bamboos like these can be bought at
'Tamu' or jungle produce market for
Rm 2 each in Bintulu.

 This is a very special dish popular among the Bidayuhs of Sarawak - the making of chicken cooked in bamboo.  This method of cooking is called 'Pansuh', thus chicken cooked the Pansuh way.  Here's how it is done step by step.
Ingredients:
You need young tapioca leaves, bamboo, lemon grass, garlic, kantan (torch ginger) buds or flowers, shallots, chillies, salt, and slices of chicken meat.

Chicken sliced into small pieces

Young leaves of the tapioca - these are mixed and cooked as vegetables and to cover the top of the bamboo to help indicate whether the chicken is well-cooked i.e. when the young leaves turned soft and yellowish

Shallots and chillies are pounded into a paste

Mix the pounded paste with the chicken meat, crushed lemon grass and garlic and flowers or buds of the kantan (torch ginger)

 The next process is most interesting because it involves inserting the chicken and ingredients into the bamboo and then to stand the bamboo over a fire to cook.  Keep adding wood to the fire to allow for cooking about one hour.  Within that hour, turn the bamboo around to avoid over-burning of the bamboo.  The process of slow burning the bamboo is complete if you notice the tapioca leaves turning yellowish.     

The bamboo needs to be turned around to allow for consistent heating  and to prevent over-burning of  the bamboo which may result in damage and thus leaking of the chicken 'soup'

Young tapioca leaves turn yellowish to indicate the chicken is well-cooked..
Remove the contents of the bamboo and served the cooked chicken hot....

Served Pansuh ....yummy,yummy,yummy...

(Note : Compliments to the chef...my yours truly)