Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Red Honeyed Chicken/Ayam Masak Merah Madu


The first time I tasted this dish was at my Malay friend house years ago. Kak Zuliah mom cooks the very best Ayam Masak Merah Madu/Red Honeyed Chicken. This is common dish found in Malay restaurant or food stalls. This dish has a sweetish savory flavor made from tomatoes and honey and it goes really well with rice. I like this dish and will always order it if the restaurant or food stalls have it in their menu. I just love the thick sauce with sweetish honeyed flavor. I think by pre-frying the chicken enhance the taste of this dish.

I made this dish when we had guest over for dinner the other day and everyone just love it especially Carlos. I am actually surprise that he requests me to cook it again next week. Normally he is not very keen of eating dishes like this. I think it might be because I omit some of the spices like cinnamon, cardamoms and cloves when he is not a fan of it.



Ingredients:

1 chicken – removed skin and cut into bite size pieces
1 small onion - sliced thinly
2 tomatoes - quartered
2 shallots - chopped
5 cloves garlic - chopped

Seasoning:

2 tbsp sambal oelek/chili paste
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 1/2 tbsp honey (more if you like it sweeter)
Salt to taste


Marinate for chicken

1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp coriander powder
1 tsp sugar


1. Clean and drain chicken pieces well. Mix together with all the marinate ingredients and let stand for at least for at least 2 hours.
2. In a large pot or wok, heat up some oil well and deep fry marinated chicken till just golden brown. Remove oil from wok; drain the oil on paper towel. Remove most of the oil and safe about 2-3 tablespoons and return wok to medium high heat.
3. Add chopped shallots and garlic. Stir- fry till fragrant. Add in tomato paste and sambal oelek. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add in onion, and tomatoes. Cook until it softens.
4. Add in the chili sauce, honey and a few tablespoon of water. Mix well and add in some salt. Add in the chicken and stir thoroughly to coat with the sauce. Mix well, check seasoning. Dish out and serve with warm rice.

I am submitting this dish to to Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, created and hosted by Sharon of Test with a Skewer and Suresh of 3 Hungry Tummies.

13 comments:

QembarDelites said...

This is my absolute favorite chicken cooked malay style too! There's a van nearby my office selling this dish and I have to be there early if I want to buy it...your version looks just like theirs! Yummy!

Anonymous said...

Hi, may I know what's the ingredient for sambal omelet?
Thanks.

3 hungry tummies said...

Oh my favourite chicken dish! May I put this towards the MMM roundup?

PH said...

Oh, I love this! Usually I get to eat Ayam Masak Merah at Malay weddings together with nasi minyak.

Yoong said...

Beautiful food for winter! I like this dish heaps, Gert. Yum yum!

My Little Space said...

Hmmm... I enjoy masak merah too! Must this out since puasa is coming in another one more day.
Hope you're enjoying your day, Gert.
Kristy

Yumgoggle said...

What a really flavorful chicken dish to try...The spices blend well with the chicken meat. This is a truly festive dish.

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Cheah said...

This ayam masak merah is 'memang merah' and looks soooooooo delicious!

The Yum List said...

This definitely sounds like a finger licking recipe. Honey -mmm :-)

ICook4Fun said...

Jennie, yes they are very 'laku' ha ha. I too will get this if I see the mak cik selling it :)

Anon, it is sambal oelek and not omelet. They are just blended chili paste.

Suresh, yes you can put it on the MMM round up. I will send them to you.

Phong Hong, yes they goes well with nasi minyak.

Yoong, thank you.

Kristy, oh yes plenty of it at pasar Ramadhan. How I miss them :(

Yumgoogle, I will check your website out. Thanks.

Cheah, ha ha ya is the used of tomato paste.

The Yum List, thanks.

Linda said...

I love this dish soooo much! My Malay friend always cook for me. How I love it! Your dish look so tempting, just feel like grabbing out from yr pic! :)

lena said...

not sure if i've eaten this..sometimes dont know their names but certainly this sounds very appetising!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

This is my favourite ayam masak merah, so long did not cook this chicken, yours sound really delicious!