Ayam kecap or ayam masak kicap is an Indonesian Javanese

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

dish poached or

simmered Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than ) and above poaching temperature (higher than ). To create a steady simmer, a liquid is brought to a boil, ...

sweet soy sauce Sweet soy sauce ( id, kecap manis) is a sweetened aromatic soy sauce, originating in Indonesia, which has a darker color, a viscous syrupy consistency and a molasses-like flavor due to the generous addition of palm sugar or jaggery. ''Kecap manis ...

(''kecap manis'') commonly found in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

History and origin

Fried chicken in sweet soy sauce is a typical chicken dish commonly served across

. However, it is more precisely of Javanese- Chinese origin. The recipe follows the production of Indonesian '' kecap manis'' (sweet soy sauce). Historically, soy sauce production is linked to Chinese influence in the archipelago. However, Indonesian Javanese version of soy sauce has its own twist, which is a generous addition of thick liquid

palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar is sometimes qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed ...

(''gula jawa'') with consistency of

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

. The ''ayam kecap pedas'' is spicier version which also adds a generous amount of

chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

Regional variations

Indonesia

In Indonesia, ''ayam kecap'' is pieces of chicken simmered in '' kecap manis'' (sweet soy sauce), spiced with

shallot The shallot is a botanical variety (a cultivar) of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the ...

or onion, garlic,

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of '' Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus '' Al ...

and tomato. Other versions may add richer spices, including

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

and

cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or Aroma compound, fragrance in fi ...

. In Indonesia, the term ''ayam kecap'' is often interchangeable with ''ayam goreng kecap'' (a variant of ''

ayam goreng Ayam goreng is an Indonesian and Malaysian dish consisting of chicken deep fried in oil. ''Ayam goreng'' literally means " fried chicken" in Malay, Indonesian and also in many Indonesian regional languages (e.g. Javanese). Marination ...

'' in sweet soy sauce) and '' semur ayam'' (Indonesian sweet soy stew which uses chicken instead of beef). These are all similar—if not almost identical—recipes of chicken cooked in sweet soy sauce. However, recipes for ''semur ayam'' often add richer spices, such as

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakf ...

and

star anise ''Illicium verum'' is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to northeast Vietnam and southwest China. A spice commonly called star anise, staranise, star anise seed, star aniseed, star of anise, Chinese star anise, or badian that closely resemb ...

. On the other hand, ''ayam goreng kecap'' has thicker sweet soy sauce and is often served with slices of fresh lime or a splash of lime juice. The main difference is probably its water content: although still quite moist, both ''ayam kecap'' and ''ayam goreng kecap'' are usually dryer and use thicker soy sauce, compared to ''semur ayam'', which is more watery. ''Ayam kecap'' commonly uses poached chicken cut in pieces, including the bones. However, there is a variant called ''ayam panggang kecap'' which uses identical sweet soy sauce and spices, but substitutes a boneless chicken fillet that is grilled instead of fried.

Malaysia

The Malay ''ayam masak kicap'' (lit.: ''chicken cooked in soy sauce'') is different from the Chinese version of

soy sauce chicken Soy sauce chicken is a traditional Cantonese cuisine dish made of chicken cooked with soy sauce. It is considered as a siu mei dish in Hong Kong. Another Cantonese dish, white cut chicken, often served with a salty ginger-onion paste, is mor ...

as the chicken meat is cut into pieces and mixed with its own spices. The Malaysian ''ayam masak kicap'' usually consist of spices similar to its Indonesian counterpart, Malaysian style ''ayam masak kicap'' are usually par-fried first as ''ayam goreng kunyit'' (turmeric fried chicken) before being simmered. It can also feature potato in the stew.

References

External links