Garang Asem Ayam

Name: Garang Asem Ayam
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients: 800 g boneless chicken thigh; 15 belimbing wuluh, or 3 tbsp tamarind water; 10 green bird's eye chillies; 6 long green chillies; 10 shallots; 6 garlic cloves; 5 cm galangal; 4 salam leaves; 3 tomatoes; 400 ml thin coconut milk; 2 tsp salt; 1 tsp caster sugar; 0.5 tsp white pepper; banana leaves, for wrapping; wooden cocktail sticks, for pinning

by CommunityKitchen

IndonesianEasy1 hr 15 minServes 4

Chicken from Grobogan in Central Java, packed into banana leaf parcels with green chillies, tomato and sour belimbing wuluh, then steamed so nothing escapes but the smell.

Per
serving

470kcal

40gprotein

16gcarbs

28gfat

Ingredients

800 g boneless chicken thigh
15 belimbing wuluh, or 3 tbsp tamarind water
10 green bird's eye chillies
6 long green chillies
10 shallots
6 garlic cloves
5 cm galangal
4 salam leaves
3 tomatoes
400 ml thin coconut milk
2 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
0.5 tsp white pepper
banana leaves, for wrapping
wooden cocktail sticks, for pinning

Before you cook

Cut the chicken thighs into 4 cm pieces.
Slice the belimbing wuluh into thick rounds.
Slice the long green chillies on the diagonal and leave the bird's eye chillies whole.
Peel and thinly slice the shallots and garlic.
Slice the galangal into thin coins.
Cut the tomatoes into wedges.
Pass the banana leaves over a gas flame until they turn glossy and flexible, then cut them into 25 cm squares.

Steps

Put the chicken pieces into a large bowl with the sliced shallots, garlic, galangal, both kinds of green chilli, tomato wedges and belimbing wuluh.
Add the salt, sugar and white pepper and mix everything with your hands until the chicken is well coated.
Pour in the coconut milk and stir once so it just loosens the mixture.
Lay two banana leaf squares on top of each other on the worktop and set a salam leaf in the middle.
Spoon a quarter of the chicken and a good ladle of the liquid onto the leaf.
Bring the two long sides of the leaf up over the filling and fold them together to seal the top.
Fold the two open ends upwards and pin them shut with cocktail sticks so the parcel holds its liquid.
Make three more parcels the same way with the remaining chicken.
Set the parcels seam-side up in a steamer over rapidly boiling water.
Steam them for 45 minutes, topping up the water if the pan runs low.
Test one parcel by opening it a little: the chicken should be falling-tender and the broth cloudy and sharply sour.
Rest the parcels for 5 minutes before serving.
Serve each parcel unopened on a plate with steamed rice, so everyone gets the burst of steam when they tear it open.

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