Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Grilled Turmeric Chicken (Ayam Panggang Kunyit) & Sambal Kecap (Chilli & Sweet Soy Condiment)


I know exactly what you wanna say...
- I can't believe she grilled a bird again!
- Can she do anything else other than grilled bird?
- If I saw another grilled bird on this blog, I'm gonna...(fill in the blank)
- Another bird? That's it. I'm gonna unfollow, unsubscribe, unfriend, and everything else starting with "un" her.

Hehe.

I know, I know, I know!
But I just can't help it.
I like easy and tasty, and these grilled birds are.

This time, I tried grilling chicken using Jamie's duck grilling method. Obviously, because it is easier than my old method, which involves marinating, covering, uncovering, lowering and cranking up heat etc. All those steps got eliminated and I wonder if it would still end up as good.

Ingredients
- 1 (relatively small) chicken
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 6 cloves of shallot or half an onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cm ginger, sliced thinly
- turmeric powder, ground corriander seeds, cumin, salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 180C. Rinse chicken, pat dry, I removed neck, feet, tail, tip of wings and excess fat. Stuff some garlic, ginger slices and shallot in the chicken's cavity and or in between skin and flesh. Rub chicken all over with salt, pepper, ground corriander seeds, cumin and turmeric powder. Generously. Remember the cavity and in between the skin and flesh. Place chicken on baking dish and grill (uncovered) for 1 hour, flip and grill for another hour (total two hours).

Crispy, golden delicious skin, tender, juicy and tasty flesh.

I mentioned that the best way to consume this sorta chicken is with Indonesian sambal, right?
This time I made sambal kecap.

Back home, we'd use mortar and pestle to make the paste. Alternatively, we could use a blender or food processor to do it. But since the thought of having to wash a food processor, the vessel, the blade, the cover, etc scared me beyond belief, I decided to chop all of the ingredients. Whew!

Ingredients
- 20 red chilli (I removed most of the core and seeds, leaving only about 5 with seeds and OMG! the sambal stil ended up so bloody hot)
- 2 small cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- juice of half a lime
- 1 tsp salt, fish sauce, kecap manis, olive oil

Heat up a bit of olive oil, saute chilli, garlic and shallot (you'll need a super strong exhaust fan. If you're making this for a party, it is better to do it before your guests arrived, I've experienced suffocating my guests with chilli fume before) until fragrant, add salt, fish sauce, and kecap manis. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle lime juice over it.

Grilled chicken + sambal + hot steamy rice (eaten with bare hands) = undescribable.

I wish I could promise that this would be the last grilled chicken I post....but you know I can't :p

15 comments:

Ayu said...

hey Rita,
I will definitely try this.. No oil, but wonderfully golden.. Amazing! :D

Su-Lin said...

I rather like your grilled chicken recipes - keep them coming! :D

Sharon said...

bring on the grilled birds! i love 'em!

diva said...

this looks like one beautiful chicken - perfectly cooked!

pigpigscorner said...

Gorgeous! How do you get such even colouring?? Love kecap manis, makes everything better!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Yummy! I want to try this!

Babe_KL said...

no worries, best stick with something we know will turn out good :D

Mrs Ergül said...

I too love making roast chicken! My secret to having moist meat even for the breasts is to stuff half a lemon into the cavity! Okay, it isn't that secretive anymore. Try it the next time you grill a bird and tell me if it works for you!

tigerfish said...

I marinate the chicken the same way before I put it to roast! It is my favorite seasoning for this bird! :O

Noob Cook said...

" If I saw another grilled bird on this blog, I'm gonna... love you to bits!" haha

Tony said...

me like a lot. me will try when me has whole chicken handy. yummy.

EatTravelEat said...

If I saw another grilled bird on this blog, I'll have to spread the word about this wonderful blog!

:)

Just had chicken during the weekend, tossed with the jarred Korean BBQ marinade sauce. Easy and fast.

kat said...

Hi Rita! You've got a really funny blog here - sharp and witty! :) And it's interesting to read about your experiences as a non-Cantonese speaking person in a Cantonese-speaking city! :D

I don't roast whole birds but after reading about yours, I am really inspired to do so! And your sambal sounds like a fantabulous condiment!! Does it go with sunny side up eggs , y'think?

Avigayil Damm said...

Hi Rita,

I was browsing for how to oven fry a whole chicken and this inspired me. Just one question: when you say "grill" you really mean oven fry/bake right? Because I don't think I can choose the temperature when grilling.

Thanks!
Avi

Unknown said...

yes, it means i just dump the bird in the oven...heat radiating from top and bottom :D