Saturday, March 8, 2008

Ayam Penyet


I am not a big fan of the food called Ayam Penyet even though I am aware that it is quite a popular dish in Singapore and Malaysia. There are some people who swears by it (delicious) and I can see many stalls sprung up to sell Ayam Penyet, with each stall claiming that their version is the authentic Indonesian style or is simply the best. There are some food critics that say that Ayam Penyet will be as popular as the local nasi lemak. Is this food a just a passing fad or here to stay, I don't really know.



Ayam Penyet is claimed to be originated from Surabaya, Indonesia. . Brief facts - Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia. It is a city with about a population of 5 million people, a city with a busy port and it is also a home to the Indonesian Navy. Most of the people staying there are Javanese. The unique feature about Ayam Penyet is that the chicken meat is flatten - smashed with using a pestle or wooden mallet. That is why this dish is also refer to as flattened or crushed chicken.



Most of the time this chicken meat is prepared in a deep fry manner. The entire chicken meat looks crispy and golden light brown after being deep fried, served with some vegetables, sambal chilli sauce and sometimes tofu or cut tomatoes. However for this version, the chicken meat have the tendency to be rather dry in taste. My preference is to eat chicken meat that is crispy and yet juicy. I was in luck when I stumbled upon a stall selling this dish in a local coffee-shop in Indonesia.



This obscure stall in a small restaurant serves really good Ayam Penyet. It is served with a hot stone plate ( so unique) unlike your regular plastic plate, and it is sizzling hot when it arrived at your table. The chicken meat is a thigh or drumstick that is fried but not covered with crispy flour. When I tasted the chicken, it is both crispy and juicy. That to me is the perfect chicken dish. Personally, I dislike the dry chicken meat. The sambal chilli sauce is not too hot, with a taste of sweetness and also light sour in flavor. The fried tofu is also crispy on the outside and juicy inside. I have also ordered a plate of Kai-Lan vegetable to go with it. Kai-Lan is a also known as Chinese broccoli, a green vegetable that is normally stir-fried with ginger, garlic and oyster sauce. It is a great vegetable - very easy to prepare and eaten commonly by the Chinese and Vietnamese. The stall owner had added cut mushrooms and red chillies into this dish and it taste really wonderful. To compliment the meal, I have ordered a cool lime juice - to cool myself on that hot sunny day.