The best Indonesian Recipes sweet soy chicken

The best Indonesian sweet soy chicken

This Sweat Soy Chicken (literally means chicken in sweet soy sauce) has been my go-to Indonesian dish for years now. The chicken is succulent with sticky and slightly spicy sweet soy sauce all over it.

It’s always a hit whenever I cook it for family and friends. And it’s so easy to cook as well.

This soy chicken recipe is based on the popular Ayam Goreng Mentega which means fried chicken in butter. But I tweak the recipe so it will be easier to make but with more flavor.

In essence, the dish is just fried chicken that is covered with soy sauce. But the way we prep and pre-cook the chicken is what makes the dish delicious.

Because let’s be honest, chicken can smell, can’t it? And also, if we don’t cook it right it can either be rubbery hard or mushy soft. Plus, you want the cooked poultry to have flavor right to the bone as well, don’t you? Or, it will be like a sponge without any taste.

The key ingredients

You only need chicken, Indonesian sweet soy sauce, onions, garlic, fresh chilies, tamarind, and cooking oil.

Of all these ingredients, sweet soy sauce is the one you want to put the effort into. Please choose the Indonesian sweet soy sauce. Because the taste and flavor of Indonesian sweet soy sauce are what makes this dish very close to authentic.

You only need about 2-3 tablespoons of Tamarind juice, or sauce if you can get the ready-made tamarind sauce.

I’ve tried several non-Indonesian sweet soy sauces in the past, but they all don’t taste close enough to the kecap manis I know.

Did you know that sweet sauce is originally from Indonesia? So let’s stick to the source.

As for other ingredients, tamarind is probably the item that may not be easily available for you. If that’s the case, you can substitute it with lemon juice or lime juice.

Note: In Indonesia, the original and most traditional way to marinate chicken or fish is by using tamarind paste and salt. You can get it in the form of paste, block, or sauce.

If you get tamarind paste or block, and it is a bit hard and slightly dry, you can just cut it to an equal amount of 2-3 tbsp then soak it in 3-4 tbsp of hot water. Let the tamarind get softened and release its juice. What you want is this tamarind juice and salt for a marinade.

You can also marinate the chicken with:

Lemon/lime juice with salt.
Ginger and garlic paste (or powder) with salt.
Garlic powder, ground pepper (black or white), with salt.

How to make Indonesian sweet soy chicken

Rooted in my mom’s recipe, this Indonesian Ayam Kecap Manis is so easy to make. If you like a sweet and spicy flavor, then this recipe will be your next favorite stir-fried chicken.

And the following is how I make my soy chicken.

Preparing your chicken

I understand that there is a lot of advice and suggestions on how to prep your chicken. Here in the UK, we are told not to wash raw chicken to prevent the risk of food poisoning.

But, I’m so used to watching my mom washing and cleaning every meat before she cooks. What I mean by cleaning is taking off all unnecessary fat, membrane, grizzle, etc. And then wash the poultry.

I find this prepping chicken is what makes my chicken dish taste fresher and smell less.

So, if you’re like me, you will prefer to wash your raw chicken too. Just make sure the area near the sink where you clean the chicken is clear.

And make sure you clean and wipe the area with antibacterial wipes or spray when you’re done washing your chicken. Then dry it properly with a cleaned dry cloth or kitchen towel.

Marinate the chicken

Once your chicken is prepared, pierce all over it with a skewer or a fork. This little trick facilitates the flavoring pass right in the meat. And i continually do that on every occasion I cook dinner chicken, meat, or fish.

Because I discover this little step makes a massive difference inside the taste.

Next, marinate the fowl with 2-3 tablespoons of tamarind juice and one teaspoon of salt. Permit it relaxation for at the least 20 minutes. Ideally, you need to depart the marinade for as a minimum half-hour.

Deep-fry the chicken

When you’re able to create the dish, cook the chicken by either deep-frying it or steam-frying it. The latter is what I currently do a lot of usually than not. For health reasons.

To steam-fry, you warmth a pair of tablespoons of oil on a skillet with the lid.

Then place the chicken items on the pan and cook at moderate heat till the poultry appearance opaque. place the pan lid on and switch the warmth down. Steam the chicken for concerning 10-15 minutes till it’s au gratin through. Set aside.

Make the sauce and put the chicken in sweet soy sauce

Heat regarding four tablespoons of oil on an oversized cooking pan/ pan. Fry the sliced onions till gently golden, then add within the garlic and chili slices. Continue preparation till it releases associate degree aroma.

Pour the sweet condiment into the onion and blend in conjunction with ground pepper and salt in step with your style. Cook any for regarding five minutes till all the chicken items absorb the sauce and they’re well-coated with the sticky sweet condiment.

The Best Indonesian Sweet Soy Chicken - Ayam Kecap

The best Indonesian chicken in sweet soy sauce that you'll ever make. You can't go wrong to serve this easy-to-make chicken dish. Because everybody will just love it ?

Ingredients

800 gram Chicken boneless or with bones. Cut in pieces.
3 tbsp Tamarind juice
1 tsp Salt for the marinade.
2 Onion medium size. Sliced
2 cloves Garlic Finely sliced
2 Red or green chilli Sliced diagonally
1/2 tsp Coarse black pepper
1/3 cup Indonesian sweet soy sauce (see the note).
Cooking oil.

Instructions

Marinade the chicken with tamarind juice and salt. Pierce the meat by using a skewer or fork. Set aside and leave it to rest for about half an hour.
When you're ready to cook, heat the oil on a wok or frying pan. And start deep-frying or steam-frying the chicken. For the latter one, you heat two tablespoons of oil on a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces until they turn opaque. Then turn the heat down and put the lid on the pan to steam-cook the poultry.
If you use boneless chicken, it will normally take about 12-15 minutes to deep-fry. If you use chicken with bone, it may take slightly longer. Around 20-25 minutes. Set aside.
Then, fry the onions in a pan with 4-5 tablespoons of cooking oil until it's light golden in colour. Add in the sliced garlic and chillies. Continue to fry for about 3 minutes before you put the sweet soy sauce, black pepper and salt in.
Cook further about 3-5 minutes until you see the sauce bubbling. Lastly, add in the fried chicken. Stir until all the meat coated with soy sauce. Let it cook and simmer for about 3 minutes before you turn the heat off.

Notes

I normally multi-task things to save time. So, I would prepare the chicken first. When I start frying it, I will then get the sauce ready. Normally, the fried chicken will be ready at the same time the soy sauce ready. Happy Cooking!