82 Sambal goreng chicken

The last sentence in Beb’s recipe for this sambal goreng chicken appeals to me, “This dish is slightly moist”. That sounds yummy. I also love the fact that this chicken is seasoned with cumin (djinten). I love that combination of flavors. This recipe works great with left over raw chicken. I do not have some left, but my butcher has chicken wings on offer. I buy about 500 grams. That’ll will work great I think ;-).

This recipe is ready in one hour and 40 minutes. Takes some time because the chicken needs to marinate in the asem (tamarind) for one hour.

Sambal goreng with chicken from Beb Vuyk’s Groot Indonesisch kookboek, page 95.

Ingredients

Scraps of raw chicken
4 tablespoons of chopped onions
1 clove of chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon of sambal oelek (Indonedian chili sauce)
1 teaspoon of galangal (laos)
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of coriander powder (ketumbar)
1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder (jinten)
1 stalk sereh
asem the size of a walnut
4 tablespoons of oil
lemon juice
salt

This is a dish that is particularly suitable for leftover raw chicken. I use the best pieces like breast and legs for something else, like dry fried chicken or chicken curry. Chop the rest of the chicken bones into pieces and marinate at least one hour in a mix you make out of deseeded asem (tamarind), salt and a few tablespoons of water. Then fry the chicken pieces in the oil light brown. Rub the onions, garlic, sambal  with galangal, ginger, coriander (ketumbar) and dijnten (cumin) together and sauté them together with the chicken. Add a splash of water, the juice of half a lemon and the sereh (lemongrass). Let this simmer until the chicken is done. This dish is slightly moist.

My chicken marinates in a already prepared tamarind paste from a jar. Easy and tastes great. I mix a one tablespoon of tamarind paste with 3-4 tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt. I rub the chicken pieces well with the asem mix and leave them in the refrigerator for one hour. The tamarind makes the chicken wings tender. Lovely.

I do not chop the chicken up like Beb suggests. The bones splinter and I find it difficult to eat.

Meanwhile, I rub the onions, garlic, sambal, galangal, ginger, coriander and cumin powder together. This is the base or bumbu in which the chickens are sautéed.

The chicken wings need to fry shortly. I use oil, but you can also use butter. I use olive oil because I like to smell better than sunflower oil. It does not really matter. Chicken always needs some time to cook properly (about 30-40 minutes in total). I fry the wings on medium heat first for about five minutes.

I break the lemongrass in half and bruise it a few times with a pestle so it releases its flavor. I push a few wings to the side and fry the herbs and spices mixture (bumbu) in the middle of the pan until the onions are yellow. Then I mix it with the chicken wings.

I add the water and the juice of half a lemon. Now I put the lid on the pan and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes. I take the lid off and let the chickens cook for another 5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. I check if the wings are done. Yes! Now makan! 😉

Beb Vuyk, best known for her Groot Indonesisch Kookboek (Great Indonesian Cook Book), was much more than a great cook. She belongs to the most important Dutch-Indonesian (Indo) writers and journalists of her time. Check this out.