Thursday, April 10, 2008

Indonesian Grilled Chicken (Ayam Bakar)


Whenever I am in Indonesia, I always ask my sis to bring me to Ayam Bakar Ganthari in Blok M, Jakarta. We'd indulge in a few pieces (!) of chicken each (I was embarrassed enough listening to the service team's whispering and giggling not to order more. Don't get it wrong, they are all lovely people, super friendly and all smiles, but our way of ordering as if we were just back from a place where chickens do not exist inevitably calls for some whispers hehe), lots of side dishes: chicken liver, chicken gizzard, tofu, tempe aka soy bean cake, all grilled to perfection, with chilli sauce and lots of kecap manis. It's not a surprise that we weren't crazy about the salad hehe (it's not the salad, it's us)

Ayam Bakar Ganthari is the second best ayam bakar I've tried so far. The best one, ironically, is ayam bakar from Ayam Goreng 99, Kingsford, Sydney. They are similar in taste, but the chickens in Sydney are bigger HAHA. Size does matter for me.

I did not hope that I could duplicate how they do the chicken, as I don't even have a charcoal grill for a start ^_^ So, finally I did my own version of ayam bakar...it's not ganthari, but...it did a good job relieving me from my serious ayam bakar craving. (In case you were wondering, sadly, I found NO Indonesian restaurant in Hong Kong that serves decent ayam bakar)

Ingredients
(serves 2)
- 4 boneless chicken thigh fillet, leave skin on, trim excess fat off (you can also get whole chicken legs - upper & lower thigh)
- 200 ml coconut milk
- garlic, shallot, ginger, palm sugar, corriander seeds, salt, red chilli, pepper, lime juice, olive oil, ground to form a paste

Rub chicken pieces with the paste, don't forget to rub some between chicken meat and skin, let it rest in the fridge for minimum 1 hr, or overnight for better result. Pre-heat oven to 200 C, boil the marinated chicken pieces in coconut milk until the meat is cooked through, keep the coconut milk. Grill chicken pieces until the skin turned brown, pour some coconut milk sauce from time to time to prevent them from drying out. Pour some of the sauce when serving. This is perfect with steamed rice. Get your hands dirty, don't use utensils ;)

PS. Sous chef loves this flavorful chicken dish :)

18 comments:

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wow..home cooked ayam bakar..thank god i dun get dis kinda cravings..or i will b crying infront of the stove n wishing for the ayam to just appear infront of me..

haha size matters eh?

tigerfish said...

This looks good! Been a while since I have indonesian food. I don't do a lot of indo food at home so only can eat out. But there is no decent indonesian eatery near where I stay!

Anonymous said...

ayammmmm....ini mah favorite banget Rit....*cekgllluuggg* qiqiqiqiqiq

Anonymous said...

::yin::
craving for ayam bakar ganthari huh ?! *grin
just come back home soon and i'll take you there :D

Peter M said...

The paste for this chicken sounds delightful....I must try this out.

A.G said...

maaaak ayam bakar... one of my favo food... pake sambel trasi ato samble tomat sek wokeh yoo.. jo lali lalapane kr kemangi... meler-meler dah maeme....

Jeng Rita... yen tak deloki avatarmu, kamu kiy opo dadi bintang iklan produk indo toh ? wingi teh kotak saiki kecap manis.. sesuk pose nyunggi kerdus indomie po huehehe * kidding sis*

Nina Timm said...

wow, this looks really delicious....

test it comm said...

I have never had Ayam Bakar but it looks good! The paste sounds really tasty.

Unknown said...

hi joe, yes lah...i was so close to crying in front of my stove, rubbing my oven 3 x and still no ayam bakar...that was when i decided to take matters into my own hands lah haha...chicken size does matter hehe

tigerfish..poor you...really no indo eatery at all? any indo minimarkets/shops?

hi elsye, iya emang favoritku banget nih ayam...tapi agak ribet bikinnya cuman bisa pas weekend..

yin, yuk yak yuk hiukkkkkkkk

hi peter, u're gonna loveee it..will you be able to get palm sugar?

ayin, wahaha lho aku kan musti mengiklankan produk2 favoritku wahaha, idemu top lho, sesuk tak foto nggotong box indomie

hi nina, thanks :)

hi kevin, yeah i really loveee the spices combo in the paste, plus. coconut milk :) the chicken pieces were yummy enough even before grilling (i almost "tasted" the whole pot!)

Little Corner of Mine said...

With coconut milk, sure very fragrant and delicious! Ayam bakar satu please!

KC said...

I'm going to make your ayam bakar this weekend. It sure looks good!

Anonymous said...

Look at that crispy chicken skin! I love it!

Anonymous said...

So glad to read that you love grilled chicken liver and gizzards too!
I love the paste, need more palm sugar though!

Anonymous said...

HI RIT..LAM kenal ya
gue juga suka ama ni ayam, yg depannya blok m plaza kan?dah coba ayam bakar babe lili yg didaerah blkg sainah jg enak

M said...

Lovvve Ayam Bakar... I think Grilled Chicken taste nicer than Fried Chicken because it has this aromatic charcoal smell, yum!

Anonymous said...

This does sound like a great rece only thing is you have not indicated the amount of each ingredient formthe paste so the recipe is fairly useless.

RikaaLika said...

ohhh..you have no idea!
i'm indonesian..
been staying in malaysia for 6 years.
this years i went back once only..
n when i found this indonesian restaurant..
me and 3 malay friends of mind order food like mad girls..and boy..
hahahah
bill come up to RM160 include tax..
THAT can buy food for the whole kampung at indonesia!!!
hahahahha
XD
i'm new reader and i like ur blog..
alot!!!

RikaaLika said...

ohhh..you have no idea!
i'm indonesian..
been staying in malaysia for 6 years.
this year i went back once only..
n when i found this indonesian restaurant..
me and 3 malay friends of mine order food like mad girls..and boy..
hahahah
bill come up to RM160 include tax..
THAT can buy food for the whole kampung at indonesia!!!
hahahahha
XD
i'm new reader and i like ur blog..
alot!!!