Indonesian Style Chicken Rice In Coconut Sauce (Nasi Ayam Semarang)

Indonesia is so big that even chicken rice has many different types
One of them which is I'm familiar with is the one originated from Semarang, the capital city of Central Java province
The city where I was born, hence my enthusiasm in practising to cook this dish :)

It's mainly coconut rice accompanied by a few dishes which are also cooked in coconut milk
Yum yum yum... Yeah, Indonesians love to cook dishes with coconut milk
God knows how the cholesterol level in this dish LOL
Such a big frustration to know yummy stuff is usually not recommended by dietitians wew....

What I cooked was the coconut rice accompanied by stir fry chayote in spicy coconut sauce, chicken and also eggs & tofu cooked in coconut sauce
Only 3 dishes to accompany the rice but it's pretty tedious to prepare even though it's worth the trouble since it cant be found anywhere in Singapore :)

Here's the recipe - it's from my mum...

For the coconut rice:

300g uncooked rice
100ml coconut milk (I mixed 60ml Kara coconut cream and 40ml water)
1 tsp salt
320ml water
3 pandan leaves

1. Rinse rice and combine well with coconut milk, salt and water
2. Set aside for 10-20 minutes, then add pandan leaves and cook in rice cooker

For the chicken dish:

1 chicken, cut

Blend together:
*1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, mix with a little water and grind
*5 shallots, chopped
*4 cloves of garlic, crushed
*a thumb size of turmeric, peeled and chopped
*a pinch of belachan (fried prawn paste)
*6 candlenuts - grated

2 bay leaves
water
salt, sugar
5 tbsp Kara coconut cream

1. Boil chicken with blended ingredients and bay leaves, water, salt and sugar
2. When the chicken half cooked, add in coconut cream and bring to boil
3. Lower down the heat, and simmer til thick coconut layer surfaced
4. Scoop the thick layer and transfer to a small pot, set aside
5. Bring the chicken to boil and off heat

For the tofu and eggs dish:

the thick coconut layer from the chicken
water
1 bay leaf
3 blocks of firm tofu - cut and fried til golden brown

5 eggs
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
palm sugar
tamarind paste mixed with water, mix well and strain
salt
dark sweet soya sauce (kecap manis)

1. First, cook the eggs first: Boil eggs for 15 minutes approx, drain and peel. In a small pot, boil the peeled eggs together with garlic, water, palm sugar, a little tamarind juice, salt, and dark sweet soya sauce. Bring to boil and simmer for 15minutes, til eggs browned - off heat and drain eggs
2. Mix thick coconut layer with water, add in bay leaf, fried tofu and the cooked eggs 
3. Bring to boil and simmer til thickened

For the stir fry chayote dish:

 

2 chayotes, peel and julienned, mix with salt and squeeze by hand - rinse well, set aside

4 shallots, sliced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

a pinch of belachan (fried prawn paste)

1 tbsp blended red chillis (smooth)

water

2 tbsp coconut milk

salt, sugar, oil

1. Heat oil in a pan, stir fry shallots, garlic, belachan til fragrant
2. Add in chillis and add water
3. Add in coconut milk, followed by salt, sugar and bring to boil
4. Adjust the taste
5. Add in shayote, stir well briefly and off heat

Scoop coconut rice in a serving plate, together with chicken, tofu, egg and chayote

Serve immediately

Just to share, back there in the origin city, people serve this rice dish on a plate made of banana leaf and eat with spoon made of banana leaf. Somehow, eating this way makes the dish taste even more yummy but it needs skill and practice to master eating with the spoon, not so easy :)

I googled to let you see how the spoon looks like... here it is:

You see the long slim rectangle thing on your right side? That's the spoon :)

I guess this is another great dish to fill you up for those fasting..

I submit this post to LBT Ramadhan dishes August 2012