Ayam Masak Merah

The MASSOC (Malaysia-Singaporean Society) in my University started a food selling fundraiser for the M-Night. My eyes went googly when I saw the second menu... (the first and last didn't interest me); NASI TOMATO & AYAM MASAK MERAH! My housemate and I had been talking about nasi tomato for the past week and reminiscence how much we love the Malay food in Malaysia. However, the food sold was... not exactly satisfactory. The nasi tomato did not exhibit the colour it's supposed to have and the ayam masak merah was cooked using chunks of chicken breast. The aroma was all gone!

Being a food enthusiast myself, I quickly consulted my mum and asked for the recipe. I could not care less that I don't have the necessary utensil such as the mortar and pestle. Neither did I have those red/green chillies. My fridge has only bird's eye chillies and some leftover from the CNY house party, crushed dried chillies.

MY RECIPE:

Difficulty Level: 40%
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Ingredients for the chicken marinade: Turmeric powder, salt, corn flour and 3 chicken thighs with drumsticks.
Ingredients for the sauce: 4 cloves of garlic, 50g of ginger, 2 large onions, tomato puree (preferably with small chunks of tomatoes), 2 tomatoes, 50g of crushed dried chilies, 7-8 bird's eye chilies, 1 lime, sugar and salt.

Steps:

1. Separate the chicken thighs from the drumsticks. You will get 6 pieces of chicken. Rub 3 pinches of salt and 2 tablespoons of turmeric powder on the skin of the chicken. Then, add in some corn flour and massage the chicken with the marinade. Let it stay for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, mince the garlic, ginger and bird's eye chilies (since I don't have mortar and pestle to crush it). In a bowl, try to mash it using the end of the knife. Then, slice the tomatoes into small pieces (if possible, 16 small pieces out of 1 tomato).
3. Slice the onions into rings.
4. Heat up the pan/wok (I used a pot) with oil at medium heat. The chicken pieces will have to be fried till cooked. Don't deep fry the chicken pieces.
5. Once the skin turn crisp and the meat is cooked, remove the chicken and most of the oil. Leave some in the pot to cook the sauce. The oil will be yellowish due to the turmeric.
6. Add in the 'mashed' garlic, ginger and chilies. Cook at low heat. Then, add in the onion rings, tomatoes, tomato puree and 2 pinches of salt.
7. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the lime zest, two tablespoons of sugar and the crushed dried chilies. Have a taste of it and you can continue to add these 3 vital ingredients to alter the taste to your preference. The lime will make it sourish, the sugar will enhance its sweetness while the chilies of course, will make it spicy and hot.
8. It is now time to add the chicken pieces into the pot. Cook at medium heat and close the lid of the pot. Open the lid occasionally to stir. Add water if you find the sauce to be too dry.
9. Let it simmer for 15 minutes. Then, the dish can be served.

My recipe is of course the least desirable for authentic ayam masak merah. However, you can always improvise like I did. Some would prefer using hot chili sauce, red/green chilies or turmeric ginger for the paste. Meanwhile, if you prefer the onion rings to be crunchy, add it in after the chicken. Have fun trying this out!