This Javanese Ayam Ungkep recipe is taken from our Javanese Cuisine page. For more delicious Javanese dishes, click here.
Javanese Ayam Ungkep is a specialty dish of spiced and deep fried chicken. The chicken pieces are pre-cooked in spices before being deep fried. The Javanese consider it as a great party dish. Try some. You will surely want to serve some Ayam Ungkep at your next party!
Javanese Ayam Ungkep Recipe-
Ingredients:
For the Chicken-
- 1 whole chicken (about 2-1/2 to 3 lb.), cut into 8 pieces
- 3 stalks lemongrass, bruised
- 6 kaffir lime leaves
- 16 oz. coconut water
- vegetable, oil, for deep frying
For the spice paste-
- 10 shallots
- 8 large cloves garlic
- 1” piece ginger root, peeled and chopped
- 1” piece fresh galangal root, peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp. turmeric powder
- 1 tsp. coriander powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
Directions:
- Use a mortar and pestle to grind the spices into a smooth paste.
- Place chicken, spice paste, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and coconut water into a cooking pot. Bring to a vigorous boil. Cover the pot, reduce flame to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, or until chicken pieces are tenderized.
- Drain the chicken now, so they are dried in preparation for deep frying. (Note: if you want to store the chicken at this point, to serve some other time, you can. They can be frozen for up to 1 week, and also keep well for several days in refrigerator)
- Heat enough oil in a large, deep cooking pot for deep frying. When the oil is sizzling hot, lower chicken pieces in, and fry until the skin is golden brown and crispy—about 3 minutes should do it—because the chicken has already been cooked.
- Serve your Javanese Ayam Ungkep while hot, with rice and a vegetable side dish.
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I normally am afraid to try and cook something with a name I don’t know how to pronounce, LOL … but this looks so much like good old fried chicken, what the heck – I’ll give it a go!
Barb, you crack me up! LOL, but yeah, go for it. This version of (deep) fried chicken, with the ethnic seasonings, will be wonderful, trust me.
Wonderful sounding recipe for chicken! And thanks as always for the links to get hard to find locally ingredients. Lemongrass and Kaffir leaves are hard to get a Walmart, LOL.
You are welcome, Margo – and enjoy this deliscious chicken recipe!