Indonesian spicy roasted chicken

Anyone who has ever eaten at Blauw in Amsterdam or Utrecht knows that the flavors there leap off the rijsttafel. One Indonesian dish is even more delicious than the next, and you can now easily make those recipes at home with their beautiful cookbook. This ayam bakar pedas is addictively delicious.

We always eat with the staff before the guests arrive; usually a simple plate of rice with some meat or tofu and vegetables. But there are days when the chefs pull out all the stops and put something special on the pass. Never complicated dishes, because they don’t have much time besides preparing the extensive rijsttafels. A recurring favorite is roasted chicken, or ayam bakar. A general term for a dish eaten in countless variations in Indonesia. The preparations often have in common that the chicken is first boiled or braised until cooked and then briefly roasted. The chefs at Blauw naturally each have their own favorite recipe; this is a combination of a little bit of everything.

How to make Indonesian spicy roasted chicken

1. Squeeze the lime and mix the juice with the salt. Marinate the chicken legs in the juice for 20 min.
2. Finely chop the shallots. Peel the ginger and chop it very finely. Finely chop the garlic. Heat a splash of oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and sauté the shallots, ginger and garlic until the shallots are soft.
3. Finely chop the rawit and add the rawit and ketumbar to the shallots. Fry briefly. Place the chicken legs in the pan and pour in the lime juice. Add the kecap and djeruk purut. Bring to a boil, cover the pan and reduce the heat. Gently simmer the chicken legs for 40 min. until tender.
4. Remove the chicken from the pan. Finely chop the gula djawa and add the gula djawa and pepper to the sauce. Stir
the cornstarch with 2 tbsp water in a small bowl and pour the cornstarch slurry into the sauce. Bring to a boil and let the sauce thicken slightly. Turn off the heat.
5. Grill the chicken legs on the barbecue, under the grill setting in the oven or in a grill pan for a few minutes on each side, until the skin is crisp. Do not set the grill too high, as the skin will burn quickly because of the kecap. Serve the chicken legs with the sauce. Slices of cucumber and tomato make a wonderfully refreshing accompaniment.

Title: Blauw
Author: Meta van den Boomen
Publisher: Terra
Price: €25.99

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