Thursday, October 6, 2016

Ayam Cocoh

Star Q



My duty was to fetch our daughter who was coming home for the first time after her registration in one of the local universities.  It did not matter that it had only been slightly more than a week since then, or the fact that I had to wait for about one hour and fifteen minutes for her commuter train to arrive at the station.  I was just happy she was coming home.

Equally happy was my wife.  Since I had to work and fetch out daughter, she was left with the task of thinking what dish to prepare that would make the homecoming a happy one.  Our children never ask for special types of food when they come home (well, not always because they know that we prepare them with them asking!) but we celebrate the occasion with something special.

So, for that specific special occasion she prepared Ayam Cocoh which she adapted from one of the local cookery magazines.  She scour through magazines; I scour through the net!

  • 4 whole chicken legs
  • 1 tbs tamarind juice
  • 1000 ml coconut milk
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 15 shallots *
  • 6 cloves garlic *
  • 20 dried chilies *
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted *
  • 1/2 tsp fennel *
  • 2 cm fresh turmeric *
  • 3 cm cekur *
  • 3 cm galangal *
  • 1 tsp toasted shrimp paste *
  • (ingredients labeled * to be ground together into a paste)

Marinate the chicken legs with the tamarind juice for 15 minutes.  Place the coconut milk and the ground ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil.  Add in the chicken legs plus the tamarind juice along with the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer gently until chicken legs are fully cooked.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 C.

Transfer the chicken legs to a roasting tin and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Baste the chicken every 5 minutes with the remaining gravy.

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