Rendang Ayam
Courtesy of William Tang

This is a Malay recipe that's usually done with mutton instead of chicken.

Ingredients:

1 chicken
16 cups coconut milk
2 tbsps chilli paste
8cm piece galangal
4 screwpine leaves
4 lime leaves
4 tumeric leaves
salt to taste
20 shallots
6 lcoves garlic
8cm piece ginger
*last 3 ingredients pounded together*

Method:

1. Wash chicken and cut into bite sized pieces.
2. Mix the pounded ingreidents witht he chilli paste
3. Put chicken, coconut milk, chilli paste mixture and rest of ingredients in a pan and cook over very low flame unitl the gravy is dry and the chicken tender.
4. Serve with rice.

Rendang Tok
Courtesy of Monique <moniclassylady@hotmail.com>
A traditional dish from the State of Perak which is in the North West of Malaysia.

3 1/3 lbs Beef Brisket or Topside, cut into 2" cubes
1/2 Coconut - young but firm flesh. Remove flesh from hard shell, remove the brown skin and cut into thin 2" slices.
5 Coconuts - grate white flesh and extract the thick coconut milk 'Pati Santan'
To do this put a few handfuls grated coconut into a muslin cloth and squeeze till coconut milk is extracted. Continue till all the coconut has been used.
About 3 tsp salt
Ingredients to be sliced:
5 ozs shallots
4 ozs garlic
5 ozs ginger, slice first then shred in slivers
Ingredients to be ground:
2 heaped tbsp coriander seeds
1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
1 headed tsp fennel Seeds
1 heaped tsp Black Pepper Corns
10 Cardamons - remove husks and use seeds inside
10 cloves
2" stick of cinnamon - break into small bits
(The best would be to put all the ingredients into a coffee grinder and grind till it is very fine).
Add to this 2 or more tbsp plain chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder

To be roasted and ground:-'KERISIT'. White Flesh of 1/2 a grated coconut. (Put into a nonstick pan and roast over a moderate flame till dark brown but not burnt.) Leave to cool then grind into a fine paste. A coffee grinder can be used for this too. (This has to be finely ground without water or else,you will get grainy bits of coconut which is not very pleasant!) Grind in small amounts scraping down the sides till it is
fine.

Method: Mix beef with sliced ingredients, ground ingredients, coconut slices and
thick coconut milk and ground roasted coconut marinate for 2 hours. Put into a non stick pan or wok. Leave to simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours until meat is tender and almost black in colour and dry. When gravy is getting dry stir continuously till gravy is almost dry. Add salt or to taste.

This dish can be prepared in stages. Kerisit can be done ahead of time and put into a bottle and stored in refrigerator till needed. Beef can be marinated overnight in the refrigerator.

This dish is a speciality from Penang. A beautiful Island just off the mainland to the North West of Malaysia.

Inchee Kebin
(Deep Fried Spring Chicken)
Courtesy of Monique <<moniclassylady@hotmail.com>

2 Spring Chickens - each chicken should not weigh more than 1 1/2 lbs - Cut each chicken into 10 pieces.
2 Coconuts - scraped to extract 1 1/2 cups very thick coconut milk
12-15 fresh red chilies- remove seeds if you like
about 2 to 3 tsp salt
Enough oil for deep frying
Ingredients to be ground:
4 stalks lemon grass, sliced finely - use 3" from base up
2 inch piece galingale, sliced
6 candlenuts, use only the nut inside
8 cloves garlic
10 shallots

(Put all the ingredients to be ground in a blender with a little of the coconut milk and
grind till a very fine paste is obtained.) Season chicken pieces with coconut milk ground ingredients and salt. Leave to marinade for at least 10 to 12 hours or overnight
in the refrigerator.

Before frying place chicken pieces place on a trivet to drain off any excess liquid. This is very important to aid in the frying process.

Heat enough oil to deep fry chicken,till it is smoking. This too is very important as the juices have to be sealed immediately! It is very important to only add a few chicken pieces at a time so that they brown in 3 mins. Do it in batches if your pan is small. A wok is best for this. Remove chicken pieces to a trivet to drain. Run a wire sieve through oil to clear it. Reheat to smoking again. Deep fry chicken again. Repeat process a few times till chicken pieces are crispy and brown and cooked through. Drain on trivet. Arrange on a platter and garnish with fried whole prawn crackers!

Serve with the following Sauce:
3 1/2 tbsp sugar
6 fresh red chillies, seeded if preferred and chopped fine
juice of two limes
1 tsp mustard powder
10 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Chinese plum sauce

Mix all the ingredients together till sugar dissolves. The end result of this dish is well worth the effort!!!

A very popular traditional dish from the North East Coast State of Kelantan!! It is sold at night by food stalls that can be found in various towns in the state!!

Ayam Percik
(Barbecued Chicken)
Courtesy of Monique <<moniclassylady@hotmail.com>

Ingredients:
3 Chickens - about 3 Lbs each in weight. Cut into 6 joints each. Remove skin.
Marinate with the following ingredients:
6 shallots ground
6 pips of garlic ground
1 inch of ginger ground

Mix the above ingredients with chicken joints and marinate for about 1 hour.

To Boil Chicken:
1/2 Coconut, grated and 1 Cup water. And extracted coconut milk.

Put chicken in a pot with coconut milk. Bring to boil and cook till chicken is cooked but flesh is firm.

Ingredients for Gravy:
8 dried chilies soaked in hot water to soften
1 inch square dried shrimp paste (Blachan)
1 inch ginger
1 stalk lemon grass, use 2 inches from root and slice fine
1 inch fresh turmeric root
10 medium sized shallots (small use 20)
6-7 pips garlic

Grind the above ingredients to a fine paste in a blender. Add a little water to aid process.

2 Tbsp rice flour, to thicken gravy
2 tbsp tamarind paste, mixed together well with 8 tbsp water and strained
2 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
2 1/2 Coconuts grated mixed with 5 Cups of water, put into blender to obtain thick coconut milk, strain

Method: Put ground ingredients into a pot with coconut milk.Add tamarind juice. Boil till thick enough to baste chicken.

Method to Barbecue Chicken: Dip chicken pieces in thick gravy and barbecue basting frequently with gravy for about 15 mins or till each side is evenly browned. Use only half the gravy to do this. Boil the rest of the gravy till very thick. Dip chicken pieces into this thick gravy and serve.

To barbecue this easily. Put several pieces of chicken on barbecue skewer and baste with 2 stalks of lemon grass which have been tied together and pounded a bit to soften the root. This adds to the fragrance and taste of the chicken. This dish is mild in taste as kids love it. But if you like it hotter you may add a little more chili when blending ingredients. It is usually served with rice and as an accompaniment with other dishes.