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Indonesian Butter Chicken

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This is a staple dish in Indonesia that every home knows how to cook. It requires a little bit of a niche ingredient which is Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce) but it’s a super versatile and delicious sauce to keep at home! It should be easy to find in Asian grocery stores but if you can’t find it, 3 parts honey to 1 part soy sauce will make a great substitute in a pinch. This dish only takes about half an hour to make and is a punch of sticky, savoury goodness. Substitute the meat however you want and replace it with tofu and omit the oyster sauce to make it vegan! Try this for a protein-rich taste of South East Asia!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 800 g chicken thighs
  • 1 head of garlic
  • 1 shallot
  • 1 scallion
  • 1 small lime
  • 5 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis)
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
  • Water as needed
  • Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
  • Butter to taste

Instructions

  1. In a fry pan, heat up a few tablespoons of oil and sear the chicken until evenly browned. 
  2. While the chicken is browning, dice up your shallots, garlic and scallions.
  3. Mix up your sweet soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, ketchup and oyster sauce.
  4. Remove the chicken and put in a separate plate
  5. In the same pan, fry the garlic and shallots
  6. Once fragrant, add in your sauce mixture and let it mingle for 30 seconds
  7. Add in about 500 ml of water and the chicken back in the pan and simmer
  8. Continue  adding water and simmering until chicken is tender
  9. Once ready, the sauce should have the texture of a thick syrup!
  10. Add in some butter (or not).
  11. Squeeze some lime juice and sprinkle some chopped scallions on top and enjoy!

* Vegan substitutions available: use semi-firm tofu instead of chicken! Oyster sauce can be omitted!

Notes

Link to reference recipe :https://cookpad.com/id/resep/3832883-ayam-goreng-mentega

Recipe reviewed by Annie Tsang, RD

 

 

Nutrition

Find it online: https://nutritionwell.ca/blog/indonesian-butter-chicken/