Semur Ayam recipe by Hed Chef
Hedy Khoo | The New Paper ( Singapore ) | Tue Mar 27 2012
HED CHEF
This Indonesian chicken stew is seldom sold in restaurants In this Indonesian stewed chicken dish, the spices combine with golden yellow meat in perfect harmony.
My guide in creating semur ayam, or chicken stew, is Madam Faridah Anang, 59, who operates a food stall selling nasi padang at Realty Centre, at Enggor Street in Tanjong Pagar.
Her grandparents came from Java and the recipe she's sharing was created by her great-great-grandmother. Madam Faridah is not one to improvise on a heritage recipe.
She tells me: "I stick closely to the original recipe whenever I cook this. I'm afraid to change it in any way."
Madam Faridah says semur ayam is not readily available at restaurants or eateries. She doesn't even offer the dish at her own stall.
"It's too much trouble to prepare because so much of the ingredients have to be very thinly sliced," she explains.
Indeed, I found the preparatory work demands considerable time at the chopping board.
The ginger and lengkuas must be julienned - cut into thin strips. The garlic cloves, chillies and lemongrass need to be thinly sliced.
But there's some fun to be had crushing the coriander and cumin seeds together with the mortar and pestle.
For convenience, you can use a teaspoon of both ground coriander and ground cumin.
Don't worry about compromising on the intensity of the spices as the real star of the dish is kecap manis - an Indonesian dark, sweet sauce. Another ingredient to take special note of is ground fried coconut. Be sure not to omit this as it gives a hearty bite to the stew.
Surprisingly, Madam Faridah prefers using a store-bought version to frying freshly grated coconut, explaining that not only is it a time-saver, she also finds it more aromatic.
Semur ayam is an excellent choice if you have guests who enjoy Indonesian food but don't enjoy fiery flavours.
However, as a lover of spicy dishes, I use three chilli padi for my version.
I don't add sugar and salt, though, as I find the sweetness of the kecap manis more than sufficient.
Madam Faridah also recommends adding some tang hoon (bean thread vermicelli) towards the end of the cooking process.
If you find it a little tedious to deep-fry the chicken pieces before stewing or if you're health-conscious, you can opt to stew the chicken longer in the sauce. If this is the case, you may want to cover the wok as this helps the meat cook more quickly.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken cut into large pieces
2 stalks of lemongrass. Use only 7cm of the root part, slice thinly.
2 red onions, sectioned
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2.5cm old ginger, julienned
2.5cm lengkuas (galangal), julienned
3 green chillies, sliced
3 red chillies, sliced
2 tsp black peppercorns
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 cardamom seeds
5 cloves
1 tbsp of coriander seeds
1 tbsp of cumin seeds
2 tbsp of ground fried coconut
3-4 tbsp of kecap manis
250ml cup of water
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 pinches of salt
2 tbsp sugar
Vegetable oil for frying
METHOD
1. Use a mortar and pestle to coarsely crush the coriander and cumin seeds together.
2. Marinate the chicken with the turmeric powder and pinch of salt.
3. Deep-fry the chicken until golden brown. Set aside.
4. Heat 4 tbsp of oil and fry the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, black peppercorns, star anise, crushed coriander and crushed cumin.
5. Add in the lemongrass, ginger, lengkuas, green and red chillies, garlic and onion and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Add in 3-4 tbsp of kecap manis and the water, followed by the ground fried coconut.
7. You could add in 2 tbsp of sugar and another pinch of salt here, but I decided to omit this step.
8. Once the mixture begins simmering, add the deep-fried chicken. Stir-fry for 2to 3 minutes, making sure the chicken pieces are thoroughly coated with the sauce. Serve with rice.