Tuesday 25 October 2016

Ayam Masak Sambal Kicap


There was a time when I was addicted to nasi campur and I would visit my favorite food stall every work day and get my fill of Malay food. 

In Damansara Uptown, the area between Maybank and AmBank used to be populated with many food vendors ranging from nasi campur, rojak, goreng pisang and chee cheong fun. That was back in the early 1990's.

Then one day, all the vendors were shooed away (to the Uptown food court) because that area was earmarked for development. It took almost 10 years for the said development to come to fruition and deprived many of us of our nearby  nasi campur fix.


I remember my favorite stall was manned by one very colorful kakak. She had bright makeup on and her food was fantastic. It was from her that I learnt to appreciate tempoyak, when she offered me some which she made at home. 

Then there was Restoran RN (since closed) which was situated opposite Standard Chartered Bank. That was also my favorite haunt until they sadly closed shop some years ago.


Well, I miss my nasi campur dishes and I dug out Kak Liza's Senangnya Memasak Ayam and chose this recipe. Now who doesn't like ayam masak kicap? Ooooo....give me ayam masak kicap and a big plate of rice please!

There are many versions of ayam masak kicap and this one is pretty good. But I hit a snag with my blender (as mentioned here) when I made the spice paste. Gah!!

But all's well that ends well because my rempah turned out alright. There are many more recipes to explore and I shall make it a point to fulfill my nasi campur fix at home.


Ayam Mask Sambal Kicap
Recipe source : Adapted from Kak Liza's Senangnya Memasak Ayam

Ingredients :
- 1kg chicken, chopped
- 2 stalks lemongrass, smashed
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 ripe tomatoes, cut into small cubes
- 5 tbsp sweet soya sauce (kicap manis)
- 1 tbsp dark soya sauce
- salt to taste (do this at the end, depending on how salty your soya sauce is)

Spice paste, blended :
- 20 dried chillies
- 8 shallots
- 3 big onions
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1" ginger

Method :
1. Heat oil in pan and saute the blended spice paste with lemongrass until fragrant and slight dry (garing).
2. Add chicken and mix with the fried spice paste.
3. Add kafir lime leaves, tomatoes, sweet and dark soya sauce.
4. Simmer until chicken is cooked.
5. Taste and if necessary, add salt.

Note :
- I did not add any water when cooking because the chicken and tomatoes released moisture while cooking.
- When the chicken was done, the gravy was still watery. I removed the chicken and continued to simmer the gravy until it was thick.

28 comments:

  1. If i stay near you, i can order my foods from you, hehe...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my! I must try this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I love Malay nasi campur. I've seen ayam masak kicap (with just thick black soy) and ayam masak sambal, so this is an amalgamation of the two, yeah? The raw onions on top...you like to eat them? I can't take raw onions. Hehe, problem with eating this is that our well intended carbless diet goes down the drain...as we'll need lots of rice! >_<

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, those are raw onions which I happen to love hee..hee... You are right, with these type of dishes we need lots of rice to slather all those yummy rempah on heh..heh...

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Super yummy! Taste even better the next day.

      Delete
  5. Are there no nasi campur at Uptown food court? If there is, that means Uptown food court is too far away for you to walk to, is it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have not ventured up there for a very long time. Previously I noted the stalls are not consistent. Some days they open, some days they close. They have no fixed schedule. I don't know about now.

      Delete
  6. I have eaten nasi campur many times. Most of the time I will take fish. No sure if I have eaten this ayam masak sambal kicap or not. But from your photos, it looks very flavourful. Sure can eat many bowls of rice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is a dish full of flavors and in fact the flavors improve with time.

      Delete
  7. Looks good. The roadside Malay stall that I frequent has this but darker. I enjoy their food, all the ingredients that go into the cooking, bursting with flavours. That is why their dishes have an edge over others...such as the Chinese ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes, the flavors are wonderful and they seem to improve the following day. That's why I made extra to keep.

      Delete
  8. Your ayam masak sambal kicap looks very delicious. Will cause me to eat lots of white rice! I used to eat this and ayam masak merah when I was working but since I retired, I have stopped.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This sort of dishes makes rice mandatory hee..hee..

      Delete
  9. Ooo, I didn't know you've been haunting D Uptown for 25 years now! I lived very briefly in the area in 1985, back when the only thing of note here was the Fajar dept store!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. heh..heh...I have been here for a long time. Oh yes, I remember Fajar! I kind of miss it. It was a very convenient place to shop.

      Delete
  10. I bet those gravy with robust sambal and kicap sure goes well with rice! Dangerous wei~~~~ >_<

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very dangerous, will sure tambah rice!

      Delete
  11. Ooooh I always loved Malay Nasi Campur more than Chinese Mixed Rice!
    Shops don't last too long in Uptown area. You got me thinking which restaurant has survived over 15 years?? I could only think of The Ship!!! That ship is really strong and survived many tidal waves!! LOLOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too! The Ship has been here like forever.

      Delete
  12. When I went through the ingredients, I like them and can imagine the aroma... Lemongrass, kaffir leaves, ginger, garlic, dried chillies... Nice aroma!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, this dish is very aromatic and full of flavors!

      Delete
  13. Hi Phong Hong..
    dulu u kerja diDamansara ya..
    I worked there during the early 90's too..
    but for short while aje..when my office shifted their building there from segambut tengah..
    if you know wisma Pico..ah therelah..
    during that time..tempat tu baru buka lagi..kedai makan pun tak banyak..tapi theres this kedai makan..bila lunch aje pergi situ makan..lauk2nya sedap2..dah lupa apa nama kedainya..:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ayu! I masih kat Damansara :) Kat sini banyak tempat makan but sadly those restoran yang jual nasi campur dah tutup. Yang ada, jual pakai van atau kereta. Saya memang minat makan nasi campur.

      Delete
  14. Phong Hong, mind sharing it. I'm happy to do gardening/housework as an exchange with you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah! A barter trade! Yes, you can start off with my messy garden. hah..hah..

      Delete