What Is Chicken Humba and How Does the Tausi Affect the Stain?
Chicken humba — the Visayan Filipino braised chicken dish using chicken thighs or drumsticks with soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, tausi (salted fermented black beans — Glycine max fermented with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae), banana blossoms, and sometimes hard-boiled eggs — is the chicken version of the Visayan pork humba. The stain profile of chicken humba is closely related to pork estofado (both use soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar with saba banana) but with two distinctive additions: tausi and (sometimes) hard-boiled eggs. Tausi (fermented black bean paste) is the most distinctive stain addition: the fermented black beans have an intensely savoury, slightly funky fermented aroma from the amino acid-rich fermentation products (glutamates, gamma-amino butyric acid, and a range of volatile compounds from the koji mould fermentation). On carpet, tausi contributes a dark brown-black pigment from the fermented bean skin melanins, fermented amino acid odour, and a protein substrate that requires an enzyme step. The caramelised sugar, like estofado, requires warm water first.
The Stain Components in Chicken Humba
- Caramelised sugar (same as estofado — sticky amber residue; warm water 50-60°C first to dissolve)
- Soy sauce melanoidins (amber-brown Maillard compounds; H2O2)
- Tausi (fermented black beans) — dark brown-black bean skin melanin pigment; fermented amino acid odour; enzyme step for the fermented bean protein substrate; overnight baking soda for odour
- Chicken fat (from chicken thigh skin — moderate; one baking soda round of 15-20 minutes)
- Chicken protein (very low myoglobin; cold water after warm water sugar step; enzyme)
- Banana blossom (puso ng saging) tannins and chlorophyll — mild brown tannin and olive pheophytin; H2O2
- Hard-boiled egg yolk (if included — egg yolk xanthophylls/yellow pigment; lipase for egg fat; protease for egg white protein)
- Vinegar (sukang tuba or cane vinegar) — acetic acid; no pigment; rinse cleanly
- Peppercorn volatile compounds — no persistent pigment; fade naturally
Warm water first for the caramelised sugar — then cold water for the chicken protein
Chicken humba has both caramelised sugar (requires warm water to dissolve) and chicken protein (cold water to prevent heat-setting). The sequence is: warm water to dissolve the sugar, blot, then immediately switch to cold water for the protein. Do not apply warm water for more than 2 minutes before switching to cold — extended warm water will begin to denature the chicken protein into the carpet fibre.
Step-by-Step Treatment
- Remove chicken pieces, banana blossom, and hard-boiled egg halves from the carpet with a spoon
- Apply warm water (50-60°C) across the stain; soak for 2 minutes to dissolve the caramelised sugar; blot thoroughly
- Switch to cold water immediately; rinse and blot to dilute the remaining sauce and cool the carpet fibres for the chicken protein
- Apply dry baking soda and press into the pile; leave 20 minutes for the chicken fat and any cooking oil
- Vacuum the baking soda
- Apply a cold-water protease enzyme solution and work thoroughly into the fibres; leave 25 minutes — this addresses the chicken protein, the tausi fermented bean protein, and any hard-boiled egg white protein
- Blot, rinse cold, blot dry
- After a colourfast test on a hidden section, apply 3% hydrogen peroxide across the full stain
- Leave H2O2 for 10 minutes, blot, rinse cold, allow to dry fully; the soy sauce melanoidins, tausi bean skin melanin, and banana blossom tannins all respond to H2O2
- A second H2O2 round may be needed if the dark tausi melanin or amber soy sauce residue persists after drying
- Apply baking soda overnight for the tausi fermented odour; vacuum the next morning
Chicken Humba vs Pork Humba vs Chicken Estofado on Carpet
The three sweet-sour braised dishes form a treatment spectrum. Chicken estofado (no tausi, no hard-boiled egg) is the simplest: caramelised sugar warm water step, light baking soda, enzyme, one to two H2O2 rounds. Chicken humba (tausi, sometimes egg) adds the fermented tausi odour component (extended enzyme, overnight baking soda) and may add the egg yolk fat/pigment component. Pork humba (tausi, saba banana, egg) adds higher pork fat (two baking soda rounds for belly) on top of everything in chicken humba. The treatment complexity from lowest to highest: chicken estofado < chicken humba < pork humba. The warm water step and soy sauce melanoidin H2O2 step are shared across all three.
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Frequently asked
What is tausi and how does its fermentation create the odour in a carpet stain?
Tausi (also spelled tao si, tau si, or douchi in Cantonese origin) is salted fermented black soybean paste produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae (koji mould) — the same mould used for Japanese miso, soy sauce, and sake production. The fermentation produces a range of amino acids (particularly glutamates which give umami flavour), volatile fatty acids, esters, and pyrazines that collectively create the intensely savoury, slightly funky aroma of tausi. On carpet, these volatile amino acid fermentation products are adsorbed into the carpet fibres and require two treatments: (1) The enzyme step digests the fermented bean protein matrix that carries the volatiles. (2) The overnight baking soda treatment adsorbs the remaining volatile fermentation products from the carpet pile. Without the baking soda overnight step, the tausi odour will persist in the carpet even after the visible stain is removed.
The hard-boiled egg yolk broke on the carpet — how do I treat egg yolk in humba?
A broken hard-boiled egg yolk deposits egg yolk fat (predominantly phospholipids — lecithin) and egg yolk pigments (xanthophylls — lutein and zeaxanthin, which give the yolk its yellow-orange colour) on carpet. For egg yolk in humba: (1) Remove the solid yolk crumble with a spoon without pressing. (2) The warm water step for the caramelised sugar will also begin to dissolve any free egg protein around the yolk. (3) The baking soda step addresses the egg yolk phospholipid fat (these respond well to baking soda). (4) The enzyme step addresses the egg yolk protein. (5) The H2O2 step addresses the xanthophyll yellow pigment from the yolk — one round is sufficient for egg yolk xanthophylls. The egg yolk does not require any additional steps beyond what the standard humba treatment sequence already covers.
Is chicken humba more common in Cebuano or Waray-Waray cooking?
Humba is primarily a Visayan dish from the central Philippine islands, and it is most closely associated with Cebuano cuisine (the cuisine of Cebu and surrounding Visayan islands). Waray-Waray cuisine (Leyte and Samar) also has humba versions. The Cebuano humba typically uses pork (particularly pork belly) as the traditional protein; chicken humba versions are adaptations that use the same flavour profile with a different protein. In the Filipino-Australian community in Sutherland Shire, Visayan migrants from Cebu, Iloilo, and neighbouring islands are well-represented — humba is a home dish that is regularly prepared for family gatherings and community events.
Can I treat chicken humba with the same sequence as chicken adobo?
Partially — both use soy sauce and vinegar with chicken, so the soy sauce melanoidin H2O2 step and the enzyme and baking soda steps overlap. The key differences are: (1) Sugar: chicken humba has caramelised sugar that requires warm water first — chicken adobo does not, so cold water first is appropriate for adobo. (2) Tausi: chicken humba has fermented black bean odour requiring overnight baking soda — chicken adobo does not have tausi. (3) Banana blossom: chicken humba may include banana blossom (additional enzyme and H2O2 target); chicken adobo does not. If you accidentally use the adobo sequence on chicken humba: you will miss the warm water step (the caramelised sugar will remain sticky) and the overnight baking soda (the tausi odour will persist).
Does the cola sometimes added to humba change the treatment?
Some humba recipes substitute part of the sugar with cola drinks (Coca-Cola, RC Cola, or locally popular Sarsi) for sweetness and caramel colour. Cola adds caramel colouring compounds (E150d — sulfite ammonia caramel) which are dark brown and respond to H2O2. Cola also adds phosphoric acid (in cola drinks — the source of the tart flavour), which is a mild acid with no pigment that rinses cleanly with cold water. Cola-sweetened humba has a slightly darker sauce and may leave a darker amber-brown stain on carpet — plan for two H2O2 rounds rather than one. The warm water step for caramelised sugar still applies; cola caramelisation is less sticky than crystalline sugar caramelisation but still benefits from warm water.