How to Catch and Cook Sikling (Plain Bush Hen) at the Fish Farm

How to Catch and Cook "Sikling" (Plain Bush Hen) at the Fish Farm

Last week, the son of my fish farm overseer caught a rail bird (locals call it “sikling” in Pangasinense). It’s properly called plain bush hen in English, (Amaurornis olivacea, scientific name).

It’s one of the more familiar bird species seen at the bangus and tilapia ponds in our farm. From afar, they're the medium sized black birds so often seen, we tend to ignore them. 
 
After the bird was caught, and I had a closer view, I realized it's not all black. The plain bush hen is about 10-12 inches long, has black head, nape, back and tail with grayish underparts (breast and belly), with blue tinge at the underwings, yellow legs with grey band at the upper legs, and yellow greenish bill with orangish patch below forehead.

A bush hen ("sikling") hanging upside down to expose the underwings

Same "sikling" bird (see above photo) shown on its side for close-up view

We don’t consider them as pests as they tend to just stay at the clumps of grass at the sides of our ponds and in adjacent fresh water ponds. 

"Sikling" birds (middle left of photo) at the water edge

At other times, we can see them swimming in the pond in small clusters. They usually eat insects, earthworms, seeds at the bottom part of earth dikes, and other tiny creatures along the fish pond water edge.

During dry season, when the water level in the ponds go down, especially the fresh water ponds next to ours, we see groups of plain bush hens frolicking in the grassy or "kangkong" (swamp cabbage)-filled shallow ponds.

 Plain bush hens seen from afar (small black objects among the vegetation in the pond)

I learned from my overseer that her father often serves sikling for meals when she was a child.  According to her and her son, there are actually four types of bush hens that they observe. These are:

· Plain “sikling” - remain on land (generally terrestial) and at the sides of ponds, creeks and irrigation canals. In our fish farm, they don’t usually fly and just make their own bird passage (tunnel-like) along the weed-covered dikes.

· “Sikling kerek” – are seen swimming in our ponds and fly high when disturbed.

· “Sikling butot” – swim in ponds but fly low when under threat.

· White-breasted “sikling” – they have seen this but is rare in our locality. I've not seen it but it's possible that this looks like a "sikling" bird but is of a different species (possibly a waterhen).

Other birds we have at the fish farm are the cattle egrets (called “nursing” by the locals because of their all-white exterior, also called "dulakak" in Pangasinense). They can be seen foraging in the shallow water ponds for water insects or even small fish. At night they roost on the branches of the narra trees at the southern part of our Main Pond. Else, they fly and choose some fronds of the coconut trees for their evening roost.

Another ubiquitous bird that seems to be a trademark fishpond bird in our farm is the pond heron (“doroko” in Pangasinense). They can be seen perched on low branches of trees or top of bamboo stakes, waiting patiently for prey, and are swift to swoop down on a small fish swimming near the surface. They are colored grey and are bigger than the bush hen.

Later I’ll document more local bird species that frequent the farm.

Going back to the plain bush hen ("sikling"). What’s interesting about them is that the locals do consider them as delicacies. Traditionally, they are cooked as adobo or with "gata" (coconut milk).

I became curious about how our farm locals catch, dress, and cook the plain bush hen (“sikling”).

Procedures:

1. Catch the bush hen at the ponds.

My overseer’s son spotted a group of bush hens. He walked over to the pond spot where the bush hens were feeding. He ran after them, and the birds took off in flight. Because they tended to fly very low near the ground, the son merely struck a thin branch of tree in the direction of the fleeing hens and hit one bird.

2. Pluck the feathers of the newly killed bird by hand.

No need to use hot water to do this.

3. Put the bird’s body over a flame in the clay oven to completely burn off the remaining feathers.

The resulting carcass is singed all throughout and looks like scorched black meat.

"Sikling" birds with scorched flesh ready for cutting

4. Rinse the burnt flesh.

5. Cut off the feet and the head. Remove the oil gland by cutting off the flap at the bird's tail. 

6. Remove the guts.

7. Cut lengthwise along the chest.

Bird's body being cut into halves lengthwise

7. Keep the gizzards and livers.


8. Wash thoroughly inside and outside the bird's carcass, making sure that no blood or tissue remains.
 
9. Cut off the thighs. Cut the halved part into smaller pieces.

Cutting off thighs

Cutting body into smaller serving pieces

10. Prepare garlic, onions, and plenty of ginger. Crush the ginger and garlic and dice them.

Cutting lots of ginger, later crushing them

Cutting onions

11. Saute the garlic, ginger and onion in a pot with cooking oil.

Sauteing garlic, onions, ginger

12. Put the cut parts of the "sikling" meat into the pot and cook.

Cuts of "sikling" meat being cooked with sauted onion, garlic, ginger

13. When the "sikling" meat is almost dry and the spices absorbed into the cooked flesh, add soy sauce, bay leaves and pepper corn and a dash of flavor enhancer.

14. Cook some more until meat is tender, then add local vinegar (nipa or sugar cane). Cook until the adobo boils. Do final taste test, add condiments as needed. Let simmer, then serve hot with newly boiled rice.

For a complete list of Fish Pond Buddy blog posts on fish farm-related topics, please click the Index page.