i’m not malaysian but i love sambal chicken! there were lots of malaysians in wellington, where i spent a year there for uni, i seriously miss the malaysian food there. hong kong doesn’t offer good, proper malaysian/singaporean food, which is really weird, because we’re so close physically. maybe there just arent many malaysians/singaporeans settled here?

although i’m not sure of its authenticity, i think sambal chicken is a tomato-y sweet and sour and spicy sauce that coats boneless chicken pieces.

anyways, fished out a sambal chicken recipe online and did some modifications. it’s a lot of firsts for me here: using my pestle and mortar; making sambal paste from scratch; cooking with shrimp paste and tamarind (even though i bought it months ago) and broke the pestle in half.

i modified the recipe to taste, i felt like there were lots of chillies so i took some away, i love hot and spicy food but my husband can’t take it. the result was still super spicy, i had to add a tonne of sugar to make it less spicy, so i would recommend cutting the chillies by at least half.

although the original recipe doesn’t call for carrots and squash, i added it because i’m trying to eat 9 portions of veggies a day (see here: meal plan for beybeh). i also added steamed spinach! i’m so proud of myself because i would never have done that in a million years before i read that article.

sambal paste

(i actually remembered to take photo of all the ingredients – woot woot! see above grid top left)

4 cloves garlic

3 shallots

1 thumb sized ginger

3 bird’s eye chillies

4 dried chillies (the larger kind)

1 lemongrass (fresh, only the end, white-ish part)

5/6 dried shrimps (soaked over night)

1 teaspoon thai shrimp paste

1 teaspoon tamarind pulp (think i should’ve soaked it as well, but i didn’t)

put all ingredients in the mortar and pound the hell out of it! it took a good 15-20 minutes using soft but firm pressure and consistent grind.

the result should be a smooth paste as above (bottom right)

i still cant believe the pestle broke after only ONE use!!! scam!

*the original recipe said to put in blender, which would of course be easier and faster, but i’m a bit of a purist so i decided to do it by hand

sambal chicken

2x chicken tenderloins, cut into small bite-size pieces (i used organic because we’re trying to eat healthy, less meat, more vege etc, normally i would use 3/4 thighs of normal chicken)

corn flour (enough to coat chicken pieces)

salt & pepper

1 small carrot, diced

1/4 butternut squash, diced

1/2 onion (sliced vertically, small strips)

handful cherry tomatoes

1 cup water

3 tablespoon tomato ketchup

6 teaspoon sugar (i used raw)

1/2 lemon, juiced

- steam diced carrot and squash until just al dente (you will cook them more later)

- as veggies steam, coat chicken in salt, pepper and corn flour and shallow-fry them to crispy. i only used about 2/3 tablespoons of oil (top left grid)

- after chicken is done, take out and set aside

- there should be a bit of oil leftover from the chicken, add a little more (about 1 tablespoon), use medium-low heat and fry the sambal paste

- once a bit fragrant, add onions and let everything heat and meld together, this mixture should become super fragrant (top right grid)

- add in tomatoes, tomato ketchup, half the sugar and water to loosen up the paste and make it into a sauce.

- add in carrots and pumpkin, let everything sit and simmer (bottom left grid)

- taste and add sugar if needed

- stir in cooked chicken pieces, turn heat off and add lemon juice to taste

- serve with spinach and plenty of steamed rice

Jonker's Nyonya Deli

Despite the fact that the food is just slightly above average and not exactly cheap, I oddly keep coming back. Guess sometimes you can’t logic with your tummy (especially when it is growing… haha). Comfort food.

My standard order is the dry mee-siam with sambal chicken (S$7.20). I find the mee-siam a little too sweet but the savory and spicy sambal chicken helps to balance it. I usually help myself to a generous serving of cut chilli padi (available at the self-service counter), to add an extra “kick” to my meal. Yes, I like it hot!

Dry Mee-siam with Sambal Chicken

Another popular dish in Jonker’s is the Assam Laksa. I had it a couple of times in my previous visits and though I don’t think it’s the best I’ve tried, it was good enough for that moment. Not something you would come all the way to Thomson Plaza for, but if you are already here, it’ll help to satisfy that spicy-sour-sweet-salty craving.

For drinks, it has always been the refreshing Chin Chow (S$2) but for this visit, I tried the Pat Poh Tea (S$2.80). I can’t remember what it tasted like… guess it was not memorable… so I think I’ll be sticking to my grass jellies for my next visit.

Jonker’s Nyonya Deli

#01-105A Thomson Plaza, 301 Upper Thomson Road

Opens 11am – 9.30pm daily

All you need is 4 ingredients – chicken thighs, sambal, fish sauce and brown sugar.

INGREDIENTS

2 Chicken thighs; de-boned.

1 teaspoon heap of sambal paste

1 & half tablespoon fish sauce (you can use soy sauce if you wish)

1 teaspoon heap of brown sugar

Serves 2, suitable for a gluten-free diet

Add all ingredients together and marinate it for at least an 30 minutes; longer if possible.

Pop marinated chicken in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 18 minutes or until cooked through. Then place it until the hot grill for about 2 to 4 minutes, until the skin is crispy and nicely golden.

Sprinkled toasted sesame seeds over. Serve with my Korean inspired chives and mixed green salad, or just with brown rice.

The husband and I both adore a little spicy heat in our food. Knowing just that, my dear friend Jess gave me a couple of jars of her mom’s famous home-made sambal just before returning back to Hong Kong. I am more than thankful for that because her mom’s sambal absolutely rocks!

Sambal is a type of South East Asian chilli paste made from pounded chillies and spices. However, there are so many variations of this wonderful spicy goodness and the ingredients used differ greatly between regions and families that it is impossible to claim which is truly the most authentic or the best. Sambal Oelek is one of the most popular type of Sambal, it is Indonesian in origin and easily found in most Asian grocers across Europe. I have a particular soft spot for my sambal to be pungent, salty and a touch sour, and I like it added with belachan and lime juice. This style of chilli paste is typical to Singapore and Malaysia and it’s how my nonyah grandmother would make these Sambal Belachan (as these are dubbed).

Sambal is typically used as a condiment; it can be slathered onto your favourite seafood before grilling, tossed into your stir fries, or used as a marinate for your meats. In Singapore, it is also well-loved as a dipping sauce for many of famous local dishes like oyster omelets, fried chicken wings and fried Hokkien prawn mee. Some might view it as unorthodox, but I like to use it as a spicy base for my stews or in place of a rempah…

When the husband groused about the lack of ‘heat’ in what we have eaten recently, I decided to make this simple and full of flavour chicken dish.

INGREDIENTS

2 large Chicken thighs, de-boned, fats removed and chopped into large pieces

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

2 teaspoon of soy sauce

1 large tablespoon size dollop of sambal; any store-bought version is fine

1 tomato

1 Onion

2 stalks of lemongrass; bruised and only use the fragrant lower ends

1 clove of garlic

1/4 of a thumb-sized ginger

* Serves 2, suitable for a gluten-free diet

Marinate the chicken pieces with turmeric and soy sauce for about 15 minutes. I am not precious about marinating them for a long period; so however long is up to you.

Place the rest of the ingredients (lemongrass, onion, garlic, ginger and tomato; except sambal) into a food process and blend it into a paste.

Brown the chicken in a lightly oiled hot pan until its nicely golden all over. Remove chicken from pan. In the same pan, fry the blended paste and sambal until fragrant over a low heat. Always use the same pan as the natural oil and juices from the chicken will add more flavour to your paste. Remember to stir the mixture continuously as it can be easily burnt and this slow frying process will take about 5 minutes.

When the paste is ready (it should have a nice sheen), turn the heat up to high, return the chicken back to the pan and do a quick stir fry to sear the flavours in. Add a touch of water before covering the pan with a lid and let it simmer on a medium low heat for a couple of minutes until chicken is fully cooked through and coated in a sticky sauce. Add more soy sauce or salt if required.

Garnish with spring onions and serve with a bowl of brown rice.