Diana Chan's recipe for Malaysian Ayam masak merah

I have spent a fair bit of time in Malaysia this year, going back to my roots and thinking of old recipes to reinvent and test.

One of the recipes which has been an all-time favourite of mine is ayam masak merah, which translates to red cooked chicken.

It is a traditional Malay dish. Similar to a casserole, it is cooked using tomato puree and lots of aromats.

I was in Malaysia over the Ramadan period and noticed this dish being sold at the various street markets for the locals to buy when they break their fast at sunset.

The key to making this dish a standout is to make sure you use whole pieces of chicken with bone in.

The chicken bones gives the dish a lot of flavour. You can, of course, use boneless chicken but it will be slightly different in flavour.

This dish is sold all across Malaysia in Malay eateries ranging from roadside stalls to fine-dining restaurants.

It’s usually eaten with tomato rice and a vegetable dish. You can add extra chillies to this dish to add a little bit of extra heat but it is meant to be mild in heat.

Ayam Masak Merah (red cooked chicken)
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken weighing around 1.5kgs, chopped into bite-sized pieces

Oil for frying

6 pieces of dried chillies

1 tin of tomato puree

1 tbsp chilli sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 piece cinnamon stick

2 pieces star anise

3 pieces cardamom seeds

3 pieces cloves

Salt to taste

½ cup fried shallots (store bought)

Handful of frozen peas

For the paste

2 large red onions, roughly chopped

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 inch of ginger, roughly chopped

1 inch galangal, roughly chopped

3 lemongrass stalks, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Blend all the ingredients for the paste into a fine paste and set aside.
2. Place enough oil in a wok or deep fry pan and heat to medium heat. Rub salt all over the pieces of chicken and shallow fry the chicken for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from oil, and set aside.
3. Using about 2 tbsp of the leftover oil, heat over medium heat and fry off the spices, dried chillies and blended paste for approximately 3 minutes or until fragrant.
4. Add in one cup of water, tomato puree, chilli sauce and sugar. Combine thoroughly.
5. Add in the fried chicken, frozen peas and fried shallots. Let it simmer over low heat for another 10 mins.
6. Garnish with some herbs and serve with rice.