Malaysian · Main · Served at Daun Pisang (#4)
Ayam masak merah
Red-cooked chicken
Ayam masak merah is the chicken you'd find at a kenduri, a Malay feast: fried first, then braised in a spiced chili and tomato sauce with whole spices, and finished with coconut milk.
It's mild and a little sweet. The ketchup is part of that, so don't skip it.
- Yield
- Serves 4
- Time
- ~1 hour active, ~1.5 hours elapsed
Ingredients
Serves
Chicken
- 1 kg (2.2 lb)bone-in thighs and drumsticks, 4–5 pieces
- ½ tspturmeric
- ½ tspsalt
- Neutral oil for frying
Paste (blend smooth)
- 8large dried red chilies, Kashmiri-style, soaked and deseeded
- 1red onion
- 3garlic cloves
- 30gfresh ginger
- 1"fresh galangal
- 1lemongrass stalk, white only
Whole aromatics
- 1cinnamon stick
- 2star anise
- 2–3cloves
- 2cardamom pods
- 1pandan leaf, knotted
Sauce
- 100 mltomato puree
- 1 tbsptomato ketchup
- 1½ tbspMaggi chili sauce
- 2 tspoyster sauce
- 2/3 cup (160 ml)full-fat coconut milk
- 1–2 tspsugar
- Salt
- 3 tbspwater
Finish
- 1onion, cut into rings
- 1–2tomatoes, quartered (half into the sauce, the rest as garnish)
- Optional handful of frozen peas
Method
- Coat the chicken in the turmeric and salt. Rest at least 30 minutes.
- Shallow-fry in batches until about three-quarters cooked and golden. Do not cook it through, and do not over-crisp it, because the skin goes rubbery in the braise.
- In the same oil, fry the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cardamom, and pandan for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the paste. Cook on medium, stirring constantly, 10 to 15 minutes, until pecah minyak.
- Add the tomato puree, ketchup, Maggi chili sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and water. Cook 5 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Never a hard boil after this.
- Return the chicken. Simmer uncovered 20 to 25 minutes, until cooked through and the sauce coats it.
- Cook half the tomato quarters into the sauce for 5 to 10 minutes, until they melt into it. Add the onion rings in the last 5 minutes, so they soften but keep their shape.
- Taste and balance the sweetness against the chili and tomato, adding sugar a little at a time. The remaining tomato quarters go on top as garnish.
Notes
- Eight chilies keeps this on the sweet side. Add more if you want heat.
- It's better after a day or two. Reheat on low with a splash of water or coconut milk, and add fresh onion rings and tomatoes on the reheat if you want them to hold their shape.
