Ayam Golek with Acar

Ayam golek is a coconut spiced roast chicken in Malaysia. It is usually cooked on a grill but using an oven at home works perfectly well as well. Acar is a Nyonya pickled vegetable that can last for days outside the refrigerator (though, the flavour can get a bit too intense with all that fermentation).

Ingredients

Ayam Golek

20g lemongrass
60g red onion
8g dried chilli
7g galangal
12g ginger
3g desiccated coconut
200g coconut milk (separate into 100g and 100g)
10g fish sauce
½ tsp curry powder
¼ tsp fennel powder
¼ tsp coriander powder
1/8 tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp salt
½ chicken

Acar

90g cucumber (cut into matchstick sizes without the seeds)
½ tsp salt (for salting the cucumber)
80g long beans (cut into 1 inch pieces)
100g cabbage (shredded)
90g yellow zucchini (cut into matchstick sizes without the seeds)
50g cherry tomatoes (keep whole)
15g lemongrass
10g dried chilli
50g onion
15g garlic
8g galangal
8g turmeric
5g ginger
80g water
80g oil
25g fish sauce
1/8 tsp salt (for seasoning)
75g rice vinegar
1 tbsp oil (for frying)
Crushed peanuts and sesame seeds (for garnishing)

Instructions

Step 1

Roast Chicken -

Step 2

In a blender, add in lemongrass, shallot, galangal, dried chilli, ginger and 100g coconut milk and blend until very fine.

Step 3

Heat up a pan on medium heat and then add in the oil. Then add in the spice mix and stir fry for 8 minutes until its dry and darkened. Once the spice paste is done, add in the desiccated coconut, fish sauce, and leftover coconut milk.

Step 4

In another plate, mix the dry powders together with the salt. Marinate the chicken with the dry powders and then with the spice paste. Then place it into the fridge

Step 5

Once it has marinated for two hours, take it out for another 30 minutes to bring to room temperature as you preheat your oven to 200C. Place the chicken into the oven to roast for 25 minutes

Step 6

Once finished, allow the chicken to rest for another 15 minutes before carving into it

Step 7

Acar -

Step 8

In a blender, add in the lemongrass, dried chilli, onion, garlic, galangal, turmeric, ginger, and water

Step 9

Then heat up the oil in a pot on medium heat and add in the spice paste. Then stir fry for 10 minutes until it's nice and dry. Then add in the fish sauce and set aside

Step 10

In another dry bowl, add ½ tsp salt to the cucumbers and let it sit for 10 minutes. This draws out water. Discard the water and slightly rinse the cucumbers

Step 11

Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and then add in the cucumber, long beans, cabbage, yellow zucchini, and cherry tomatoes. Stir fry it for 5 minutes. Add the spice paste to the vegetables and then stir fry for another 10 minutes.

Step 12

Once done, add in the salt and the rice vinegar and mix well. Transfer into an airtight container and it’ll be able to keep for up to a week. To serve, sprinkle it with crushed peanuts and sesame seeds.

Halal Friendly

Kosher Friendly

Recipe by

Head chef