Dayak Black Pepper Stew

If this Dayak dish is to be called French dish, this should be equivalent to French coq au vin, or boeuf bourguignon. Dayak cooking is always simple, easy and quick, and yet this stew might be one that is always better cooked by a Dayak men, as they can be pretty fussy about how potent this dish can be, and willing to wait for the slow stewing process.

This style of cooking is applied to many types of meats especially exotic animals such as bats, squirrel, wild boar, kerumboi (a type of fresh water snail), pangolin, pigeon, you name it, and the not-so-exotic animal like black dog meat. This is especially so if the meat is tough, as the reducing of the gravy from the stewing will produce a firm and yet soft enough pieces to be eaten.

As the Dayak in general is the main producer of black pepper in Malaysia, fresh black and white peppercorn is always available at their home. Black peppercorn is use liberally in this stew. The usage of shallot, garlic and ginger are also exaggerated, but the overall combination of these ingredient produces a well balance of sweetness, saltiness, sourish and spiciness in one bite.

Ingredient :
1/2 kg meat (here I used matured chicken, no luck with the exotic animals!)
5 cloves of garlic
5 shallots
5cm ginger
1-2 tbsp of black peppercorn (or to your own preference)
1~2 bird eye's chillies
1cm cube shrimp paste
Salt to taste
Cooking oil for saute
2 ltr water

Optional:
1.Any sourish veges such as pre-cooked terung dayak (terung asam), pucuk daun kedondong (ambra) or pucuk daun mengkudu (all slice thinly)
2. 1 piece asam keping for added sourish if preferred
3. 1 piece turmeric leaves for additional fragrance
4. A dash of whiskey

Method:
1. Pound garlic, shallots and ginger together using pestle & mortar, or food processor. Blender is a no-no.
2. Pound black pepper coarsely.
3. Mix bird eye's chilli and shrimp paste together
4. Saute garlic, shallots and ginger mixture until fragrant. Then add in the shrimp paste mixture
5. Stir fry meat. Lower gas, then cover wok with lid for about 15minutes.
6. Add water and mix thoroughly. Turn the gas to medium low. Cover, and let it cook until the meat soften, or the water reduced to 1/3.
7. Stir-in the black peppercorn and sour veges.
8. Add salt to taste. Add a dash of whiskey if preferred. Cook for another 10minutes, and it's done.

Great to be taken during a drinking session with great buddies!