Seah’s Spices is one of the few local brands of spice mix that I use every now and then in my cooking. My previous attempts on making Salt-Roasted Chicken and Bak Kut Teh with their pre-mixed spices turned out really well. They were just so easy to prepare and were very tasty too. Godma has always been a big fan of 皇帝药材鸡 and she has raved about Seah’s Spices’ Emperor Herbs Chicken (approx. $2.60 from supermarkets) for quite a while now but I’ve been hesitant about buying it to try as the husband and I do not really like ‘Chinese herbs flavour’ that much.
I don’t know what came over me when I decided to grab a packet from the supermarket, lol. Well, I would never know the taste until I try making it, isn’t it?
Each packet comes with a sachet of spices, aluminium foil and wrapper.
And how did it go?
How glad I was to have given this a go. This chicken was fragrant and delicious. Robust flavours but the herby taste wasn’t overwhelming at all. Perfect for those who can’t stand strong herbs flavours like me. Give it a try!
Emperor Herbs Chicken Recipe
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
1 packet of Seah’s Spices Emperor Herbs Chicken Spices
1/2 large chicken approx. 700g
aluminium foil & wrapper (included in packet)
Instructions
1. Rub the spices all over the chicken as well as inside the cavity.
2. Wrap the chicken with the wrapper provided followed by the aluminium foil.
3. Steam for 1 hour over high heat.
The recommended steaming time as indicated on the packet was actually 2.5 hours over low heat but as I made this on a weekday dinner, I didn’t have that extra time to leave it that long in the steamer so I made do with just 1 hour over high heat and the chicken meat was already chopstick-tender. I’m sure if you have the time to leave the chicken in the steamer for longer, it’d turn out even more soft with the meat falling off the bones. Enjoy!