AYAM HITAM SILKIE CHICKEN BUKAN AYAM SELASIH MEH NAK STORY KAT KAW...

Few weeks ago, the last week of January 2013 ... I flipped across Tesco's pullout tab page which highlighted BLACK CHICKEN MEAT priced at RM7.88 per bird.

Biasalah nur kalbu ku. Sudah jadi my best practise ... aku suka belikan, jamu my family especially mak aku dengan barang-barang exotic yang mak aku tak pernah jamah. Mak aku dah 63 years old, so aku suka impress mak aku dengan makanan exotic, rare dan pelik-pelik. Selagi larat nak hadap... apa salahnya ... bukan sembarangan makanan yang aku introduce, super food tu.

Aku mula-mula teruja beli black chicken ni pada tahun 2009, masa Chinese New Year. Aku beli kat Jusco. Sekitar RM11.88 per bird kat Jusco. Lepas tu takbeli-beli dah. Now I tend to repeat purchase, beli lagi seekor kat Tesco. Fresh stocks at RM7.88.

Selama ni kalo orang tanya aku just mentioned it as ayam selasih. Actually, tak sama antara ayam selasih dengan ayam sutera ni. Spelled as silkie atau silky, ayam sutera hitam bulunya halus macam sutera lah...

Banyak beza ayam sutera ni dengan ayam selasih atau ayam cemani atau ayam kedu hitam (ahahhaha... nak kena buat separate review kalo cenggini, khusus untuk species lain)

Ayam Silkie @ Sutera atau wu gu ji (nama China nya) adalah makanan kesihatan grade super. Memang telah di kenalpasti dengan khasiatnya dan nilai perubatan yang terkandung semenjak abad ke tujuh dan kelapan lagi. Disebabkan oleh kandungan anti-oxidant nya yang tinggi,  justeru tak salah lagi lah kita nak categorize kan bawah payung makanan kesihatan.

Telah digunakan sebagai remedy atau tonic sejak turun-temurun bagi wanita-wanita di dalam pantang selepas melahirkan untuk mengembalikan tenaga. 

Carnosine - anti oksidan yang terkandung dengan banyaknya dalam ayam hitam jenis sutera ni menyebabkan ayam sutera ni disenaraikan sebagai superfood. Kadar kandungan carnosine dalam ayam hitam neyh dipercayai dua kali ganda lebih banyak dari yang terdapat dalam ayam kampung biasa. Dari beberapa pengalaman lepas, khabarnya beberapa reaksi positive telah dikesan ke atas 'yin', peredaran darah, paru-paru dan sistem perncernaan.

Ni, aku quote dari internet:

Black chicken or silkie is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. It has lower fat content, higher levels of iron and nutrients present in regular chicken. It also contains naturally occurring antioxidant carnosine, which protect against ageing, alleviate diseases such as autism and diabetes and help prevent atherosclerosis, joint inflammation and protect against neurological disorders, such as Alzhemier’s. It is very small and lean and is usually used to make soups.

Comparison saiz paha ayam (chicken whole leg) hitam sutera silkie dengan ayam biasa

Tak kiralah ayam tu berbulu putih atau berbulu hitam, attribute dan ciri-ciri ayam sutera ini adalah seperti berikut ....

Ikut kata Wikipedia lah yer:

1. Origin : China

2. Fluffy plumage (Gebu rasa macam sutera)

3. Isi dan tulang yang berwarna hitam kebiru-biruan (almost black-pigmented)

4. Lubang telinga kebiru-biruan

5. Kaki yang berjari lima (ayam biasa hanya berjari empat)

Chinese medicinal cures have been touted for years as some of the best homeopathic remedies ever created. As early as the 13th century, black chickens were reported in China, and have been used in Chinese medicine for well over 1,000 years. Recently popular in American cuisine, the black chicken is now considered a "superfood".

The theory of "superfood" status for the black chicken is related to the bird's high levels of anti-oxidants. An anti-oxidant is a molecule that slows down the oxidation of other chemicals in the human body. Although oxidation is essential to human life, antioxidants help to keep the process at a healthy level. The specific antioxidant present in black chickens is carnosine.

Carnosine is a substance found in high concentrations in the human brain and muscle tissues. This substance holds many antioxidant properties which are currently being studied for their positive effects in the fields of auditory, speech skills, motor development, and opthamology. The levels of carnosine in a black chicken are two times higher than those in traditional chickens. Carnosine can also be found in turkey as well as supplements offered at vitamin shops and nutrition centers.

Until recently the strange characteristics of the black chicken have rendered it unpopular in European and American cultures. The chicken is born with black bones, meat and skin and is considered a bantam or miniature chicken.

Historically the chicken was eaten as a medicinal cure and is said to have a positive effect on the yin, blood, lungs and stomach. The chicken is most commonly served as a part of a stew or soup cooked with other Chinese medicinal herbs such as wolfberries and ginseng.

The taste of the black chicken is thought by some to be sweeter than that of traditional chicken, while others claim they taste no difference at all. The black chicken can be cooked is all the same fashions as the traditional chicken, but some believe the coarser texture of the meat leads toward stewing of the black chicken meat more frequently than other cooking methods.

The black chicken is certainly the new kid on the block in the "superfood" market. Its small size and unappealing looks will undoubtedly deter some consumers from purchasing the product, but with plans to increase the size of the chicken through interbreeding, we will surely see this Chinese medicinal secret in mass distribution in no time.

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