Ayam Bakar (Indonesian Grilled Chicken)


I have a weakness for Indonesian grilled chicken (or Ayam Bakar as you will often find on Indonesian menus) - the char and smokiness from the caramelized chicken skin, the sweet aromatic spices, the distinctive taste of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) combined with the heat from the savoury sambal belacan, all complemented with a mound of steamed white rice. The preparation method involves first simmering the chicken in the pot with the spice mix (bumbu or rempah) so that the chicken absorbs all those wonderful flavours. I then reduced the sauce to a thick syrupy paste which I used to baste the chicken before placing under the grill. This gives it a more concentrated flavour and also helps form a shiny dark coating on the skin.

 
I was a little sceptical about making this for the first time, as I wasn't sure if the kids would take to the complex spices in this dish. Well, it turned out that they couldn't get enough of it! If only they could eat chilli, they don't know what they are missing out on without the sambal belacan!

Ayam Bakar Recipe

Ingredients

1.6kg (3.5 lbs) chicken Maryland (thigh + drumstick)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1-2 lemongrass, white part only, bruised
1 inch galangal, bruised
4 pieces kaffir lime leaves
2-3 cups water
6 tbsp kecap manis (I used Bango brand)
1 tbsp tamarind puree/juice
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
Dash of black pepper

Spice paste (finely blended):
100g (3oz) shallots
4 cloves garlic
3/4 inch ginger
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

Method

  1. Heat vegetable oil in a pot (large enough to arrange the chicken in one layer). Fry the spice paste for 5 minutes on medium heat until fragrant. Add lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, water, kecap manis, tamarind puree, salt and sugar, and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Turn off the heat. If you have time, you can leave the chicken to soak in the sauce for another hour to let the flavours permeate into the meat.
  2. Transfer the chicken to a baking dish or pan, as you will need to grill the chicken in the oven later. Leave the sauce in the pot, and bring it to a boil. Simmer until sauce is reduced to a thick paste. Spoon some of this paste onto the chicken (skin-side up).
  3. Turn on the oven grill/broiler. Grill the chicken for 20 minutes or until the skin is caramelized and black. Be careful not to burn it. Brush on more of the reserved paste from step 2 above if you like and grill again.
  4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steamed with rice, cucumbers, a drizzle of kecap manis and sambal belacan (see recipe below).
Sambal Belacan recipe

4 small chillies and 4-6 long red chillies (as desired)
4 candlenuts
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp toasted belacan
Salt to taste
1 tsp sugar, or to taste
Splash of lime juice or vinegar

Method

Remove the chilli stalks. Place chillies and candlenuts in a pot of boiling water, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain of the water. Roughly slice the chillies. Place chillies, belacan, candlenuts and garlic in a food processor/blender and chop finely. Add salt, sugar and lime juice to taste. Transfer to a small dish, and serve with Ayam Bakar. If desired, drizzle some kecap manis over the sambal belacan before serving.


 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Light and fluffy Ricotta Cheesecake (with homemade ricotta)

Image
I made ricotta cheese. Did you not know you could do that, with only 3 ingredients in less than 10 minutes! And all with curds and whey, I felt like Little Miss Muffet now waiting for a spider to pounce at me. So why make ricotta? Apparently, homemade ricotta gives the cheesecake a fluffier texture, and it did turn out to be light, fluffy and creamy, with a subtle taste of ricotta. I used a gingernut biscuit base just to add some flavour and texture, although you can omit that to make a crustless version. This is not a very sweet cake, unlike your typical New York cheesecake. It's probably closer to a Japanese cheesecake except for the fine graininess of the ricotta. If you like, you can serve it with some berry coulis to satisfy that sweet tooth. I find that the cake tastes best after it has "matured" for up to 3 days in the fridge. The flavours seem to have developed and the texture is somehow creamier too. Ricotta in the making Homemade Ricotta Adapted from Smitten Kit...
Read more

Malaysian Satay Recipe

Image
  Mention the word "satay" and I am instantly reminded of my childhood years and years ago, how the Malay Satay Man would peddle his mobile satay stall on his bicycle in my neighbourhood, tooting his horn. Sometimes, I could even smell the aroma from my house, even though he could be grilling his satay down the road. I would get all excited at the prospect of having satay for dinner, and run to the window to see if I could detect any "smoke" signals in the sky. He made one of the best satays in town, and the fact that he peddled his stall around the neighbourhood meant that we could walk up to him with empty plates and bowls waiting to be filled with freshly made satay. Those were the simple things in life back then, though coming from a foodie family, food was and is a big deal, as to most Malaysians of course. Malaysian Satay is such a luxury item in Sydney. I don't think I've ever ordered satay here before, not when I know it costs multiple times less bac...
Read more

The Ultimate Pad Thai Recipe

Image
I was pretty excited when I saw that Lorraine  had posted this wonderful recipe for Pad Thai on her blog. The photos simply said it all. The almost deep and rich orange hue of the noodles was the sign of a winner and it's as authentic as it gets. None of the dry, pale-looking noodles with dry chunks of chicken meat and scattering of chives, egg and tofu that I usually get in Sydney. For the record, I never order pad thai though Mr TFWL likes to always give it a chance. My preference is still to order pad kee mao (my favourite pad kee mao is from Pom's Thai in Burwood, now Strathfield). Anyway, this is how I like my pad thai - saucy and moist noodles with the right balance of sweet and sour from the tamarind and palm sugar, with saucy bits of egg crumble tossed through the noodles. Notice the key word is saucy. Loving this pad thai sauce and if you make a big batch of it, the rest of the preparation and cooking is a breeze (well, almost!). Thanks  Lorraine  for the recipe!...
Read more