The chicken has the crispiness of traditional Southern fried chicken despite its lighter batter. The marinade of fragrant spices leaves the chicken juicy and full of flavor.
Malaysian Fried Chicken Recipe
Course: mainCuisine: malaysiaDifficulty: medium4
servings10
minutes30
minutes587.8
kcalMarinated in a fragrant curry paste before tossing in cornflour to make the coating ultra craggy and crunchy as it fries, Ayam Goreng is Malaysia’s answer to Southern Fried Chicken. In the crowded playing field of fried chicken, it’s a hot contender for the world’s best!
Ingredients
1.25 kg / 2.5 lb chichen thighs ad drumsticks, bone in skin on (I use 4 thighs, 3 drumsticks, Note 1)
- TOASTED SPICES:
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
- AYAM GORENG CURRY PASTE:
3 garlic cloves , roughly chopped
1 tbsp ginger , roughly chopped
1 tbsp galangal , roughly chopped (Note 2)
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (any type fine, mild or spicy – your choice)
1 lemongrass , white part only roughly chopped (Note 3)
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 small eshalots (French onions, US: shallots), peeled and roughly chopped (Note 4)
1 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt (or 1 tsp table salt)
1/2 tsp chilli powder , adjust to taste (Note 5)
2 tsp brown sugar
7 tbsp coconut milk (full fat best!)
- COOKING:
1/2 cup cornflour / cornstarch
1.75 litres / quarts vegetable or canola oil
- GARNISH (OPTIONAL):
1 tbsp garlic ,minced (not too small, else it burns)
1 tbsp large red chilli (cayenne pepper), deseeded and minced
1 tbsp green onion , minced
Pinch of salt
Coriander/cilantro leaves
Directions
- Toast spices: Toast spices in a small skillet over medium heat (no oil) for 2 minutes or until the spices smell fragrant. Transfer seeds into Nutribullet, small food processor OR into a tall jug that fits a stick blender.
- Curry paste: Add remaining Curry Paste ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Marinate: Pour Curry Paste over chicken in a ziplock bag (or bowl, Note 6). Toss to coat, then marinate for 24 hours in the fridge, up to 48 hours.
- PREPARE TO COOK (WORK IN SPECIFIED ORDER OF STEPS):
- Dechill chicken: Remove chicken from fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking and transfer into a bowl (most marinade should be stuck to chicken).
- Preheat oven to 80°C/175°F and place rack on tray – to keep chicken warm. (Note 7)
- Cornflour coating: Add cornflour to chicken and toss to coat – it will thicken the paste, this is what makes the craggy coating.
- Heat oil 180°C/350°F: Pour oil into a wide, heavy based pot to a depth of 6 cm / 2.5 " (my 26cm/10.5" cast iron pot = 1.75L/quarts oil, Note 8). Heat over medium high heat to 180°C/350°F – maintain temp as best you can (Note 9). This recipe will NOT work well with an air fryer – see Note 8.
- Fry: Carefully place 3 pieces of chicken in, do not touch for 2 min (to let crust adhere). Oil temperature should drop to 150°C/300°C – increase heat if needed.
- Fry 8 minutes (75°C / 167°F): Fry for 8 minutes (wings for 5 minutes), or until deep golden brown and internal temperature at thickest part is 75°C / 167°F.
- Keep warm: Place cooked chicken onto rack and keep warm in oven. Cook remaining chicken.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with coriander and garlic-chilli garnish, if using. See in post for side dish suggestions!
Notes
- 1. Chicken – I buy bone in thighs, drumsticks and wings for ease. For true Malaysian fried chicken experience, cut up your own chicken so you get breast pieces as well – ensure you keep the skin on and bone in. Cut breast into 2 pieces through the bone.
- 2. Galangal is an ingredient used in South East Asian cooking that looks like ginger and tastes like ginger but is more citrusy. It’s actually pretty hard to cut so take care when slicing it! Peel it like ginger – either with a sharp edge teaspoon or (carefully!) with a small knife.
- 3. Lemongrass – To prepare, cut and discard the top reedy part off – we only want the bottom 10 – 12cm / 4 – 5″. Peel the reedy green shell to reveal the softer white part on the bottom half of the lemongrass.
- 4. Eschalots – Also known as French onions, and are called “shallots” in the US. They look like baby onions, but have purple-skinned flesh, are finer and sweeter. Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots” ie the long green onions.
- 5. Chilli powder – This recipe calls for pure chilli powder, not US chili powder which is a blend of spices and is not as spicy (often labelled “blend”). Anything labelled “chilli powder” in Australia (and generally outside the US) is pure chilli. If you’re in the US, best to go to an Asian store, bit tricky to be 100% confident when buying online.
- 6. Bowl will work too, but ziplock bags work better because it works better to keep the marinade coated on the chicken.
- 7. Keeping chicken warm – this is the temp at which chicken will stay warm, keep the coating crispy but will not continue to cook the chicken inside. Rack required to ensure underside of chicken stays super crispy.
- 8. Frying vessel – I feel safe using a heavy cast iron pot because it’s heavy so it won’t move. For most oil efficiency, use a wok – shape means you will use about 30% less oil with same surface area for frying. If you have a deep fryer, I salute you!
- 9. Oil temperature – use a thermometer or surface scanner thermometer. If you don’t have one, test by throwing in a lump of breading – should sizzle straight away but not burn quickly. OR stick a bamboo chopstick in and touch the base of the pot – if bubbles rise from floor of pot, oil is hot enough.
- 10. Cooking order – thighs and drumsticks cook in the same time, cook together first. Then wings, then (if using breast) do breast last. Reason: dark meat stays juicier in warmed oven, and breast cooks faster.
- 11. Oil reuse – I clean my oil using this simple cornflour/cornstarch method from Cooks Illustrated, else you can use a very fine mesh strainer (though some bits will get through) or just let the find bits settle then pour the clear top part off. Usually, I comfortably re-use oil 3 times once cleaned when frying mild flavoured foods. Unfortunately with Ayam Goreng, I find that it’s really not re-usable except to make similarly seasoned foods again because of the strength of the seasonings and because you cook with it for a good 25 minutes which is using the oil a lot more than usual deep frying recipes.
