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Malaysian Twice-Cooked Turmeric Chicken with Lemon Grass and Sweet Soy
The Malaysian dish called ayam masak kecap translates as “chicken cooked in soy sauce,” but it’s commonly referred to as “bachelor’s chicken” because it’s quick and easy to throw together. It also happens to be irresistibly delicious. Pieces of turmeric-seasoned chicken are fried then set aside. A dark, thick, salty-sweet, umami-rich sauce is made with alliums and other aromatics, then the chicken is briefly cooked in the sauce to fuse all the flavors. Bob Muze, chef at Cili Kampung restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, taught us his version. We adapted his recipe using boneless thighs cut into quick-cooking strips, dredging them in turmeric-spiked cornstarch for crispness and then pan-frying them. Kecap manis has the savory notes of soy sauce but also a molasses-like bittersweetness and a syrupy consistency. If it’s difficult to source, make an approximation by combining ¼ cup each soy sauce, molasses and brown sugar. Serve the chicken with jasmine rice.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t add all of the shallots to the pan with the lemon grass. Save about one-third for adding off heat, when cooking is complete, for a fresh, crisp bite
1 hour
Ingredients
-
¼
cup cornstarch
-
1
tablespoon ground turmeric
Directions
-
01In a medium bowl, stir together the cornstarch, turmeric and ½ teaspoon each salt and white pepper. Add the chicken and, using your hands, toss until evenly coated.
Reviews
November 1, 2025
Delicious and a bit messy to make
This was delicious along with Jasmine rice. Making the kecap was easy as Wes described. Frying the chicken was a messy, spattering process. I’m wondering if the chicken could be baked after coating in the cornstarch mix? Would it crisp up?
August 29, 2024
Awesome
I always have a bottle of ABC kecap manis on hand and use it whenever any recipe calls for both soy sauce and any sort of sweetener, so when I ran across this recipe calling for it specifically I knew we had to try it. Lemongrass grows prolifically at my house, so I ended up doubling the lemongrass called for because everyone in the house absolutely loves it. My 12 year old had little difficulty making this with supervision and this is going to be part of our regular rotation moving forward. I'd probably add a tablespoon of sambal oelek to the sauce since we like our heat. I personally don't think the tomatoes add much in terms of flavor or texture, so if you don't have a plum tomato on hand you're really not missing out on much.
July 22, 2024
Excellent
I didn’t have kecap manis, so I used the recommended mix of Brer Rabbit molasses, Japanese shout, and a special very dark brown sugar. It was extremely tasty. Will try again.
May 9, 2024
Kecap for the win
This dish rocks when made AS IS. Wouldn't change a thing. It's not one-dimensionally sweet. It has layers of sweetness, all of them lifted up by the spiciness. (I MIGHT try it again with a Fresno pepper to add a little more tingling heat.) However, I should say that even here in Brooklyn, finding kecap manis was hard. Japanese grocery store didn't have it and Chinese ones were spotty. Once I used a non-Indonesian sweet soy sauce that turned out very well, but the unique flavor of the dish is pretty dependent on what the real kecap manis brings. I tried two from from Amazon and preferred the Bango brand to the more basic (and more widely available) ABC.
January 1, 2024
Absolutely delicious
Had a small group at the house last night for NYE and made this and the chicken biryani. I could have had another plate or two of this Malaysian chicken dish and will add it to my rotation. Amazing and easy!
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