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Braised Turmeric Chicken

Posted on May 25, 2020June 27, 2021 By Alexandra Wong 6 Comments on Braised Turmeric Chicken

Before I dive into the mechanics of making braised turmeric chicken, allow me to digress a little.

When I started sharing recipes on social media, I didn’t expect it to become such a rich learning resource, thanks to friends who comment.

The recipe for this braised turmeric chicken is inspired by a FB post about another turmeric-based recipe – Mum’s turmeric fried chicken. On that post, a FB friend commented, “Instead of deep frying, you can also braise the marinated turmeric chicken.”

My ears pricked up. Braise the turmeric?

My mum’s turmeric fried chicken is super delicious but fried chicken is not something you can eat everyday. The prospect of an alternative turmeric chicken recipe that was healthier (since it’s braised, not deep-fried) was overwhelmingly attractive.

… However, I had my doubts. Turmeric has always been an ingredient combined with other spices such as ginger, onions, chilly. Rarely is it the star of a dish. How would it stand by itself, unadorned? Would it be too strong or not strong enough? I had absolutely no idea.

Guess what. The next day, my friend Tan Ming May also cooked a turmeric chicken curry. Dang nabbit, the forces of the universe were practically conspiring to make me cook the dish!! By hook or by crook it was going to happen!

Luckily, the neighbourhood supermarket had fresh turmeric. I had trouble getting ingredients like turmeric, basil or even pandan leaves during the earlier part of MCO. With much excitement, I made it that night, guided by Kimberly’s instructions.

Verdict?

.

.

I couldn’t believe how good braised turmeric chicken was!

.

Braising the chicken made the meat wonderfully moist and tender. But the star of the show was the gravy, creamy and umami with a hint of floral muskiness. Hubs and I did not leave a drop of gravy behind. Even the turmeric was tasty. I ate every little piece in the dish.

When I posted the dish up on FB, my friend David Ong-Yeoh shared how growing up, his family would eat raw turmeric with shrimp paste. He said, “there is the fresh and slightly astringent taste with crunchy texture of the turmeric which is enhanced with the rich umami and sweetness of the shrimp paste.”

An old friend from Myanmar, Zaw Zaw Aung, liked the post. That small action triggered a memory – I had made something like this in the past. Roughly a year ago, I had come across a recipe in Food52 for a Myanmarese chicken dish that also employs the braising method. It was yummy, but the long list of ingredients was a deterrent. Kimberly’s recipe, on the other hand, has a refreshingly SHORT ingredient list, and it is easily adaptable.

Next to my scallion oil chicken, braised turmeric chicken has become my second all time favourite chicken dish. Mum’s fried turmeric chicken is in a league of its own of course, cannot compare ok!

To my friends, thanks for reading my recipes and please keep those suggestions coming!

Braised Turmeric Chicken

A comforting chicken dish braised in a turmeric-flavoured coconut gravy that goes wonderfully with hot rice
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 35 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Servings 2

Equipment

  • Deep pot, mortar and pestle

Ingredients
  

  • 250 g chicken pieces
  • 2 inch fresh turmeric root
  • 3 shallots, chopped
  • 1 stalk lemon grass, minced (only the soft white bottom part)
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup santan
  • 2 tbsp cooking oil

Instructions
 

  • Remove the skin of turmeric root and pound roughly.
  • Marinate chicken pieces in turmeric and a bit of salt for 20 minutes at least.
  • Saute the lemon grass and shallots in oil until fragrant.
  • Add chicken and enough water to cover at least halfway.
  • Cover with lid and braise at low to medium heat for 30 minutes, then add santan.
  • Add salt to taste. Serve!

Notes

  1. This recipe works best with dark meat, so use either bone-in chicken leg pieces, or chicken maryland.
  2. You can dress it up by adding flavourful leaves - I've used basil leaves - and boost the umami by adding a dash of fish sauce at the end. For a spicy kick, you can also add chillies.
  3. The longer you braise the chicken, the more tender the meat. I've braised it for up to 1 hour and the meat is fork tender. Just make sure that you turn down the heat to low and check from time to time to ensure the liquid doesn't dry up; you may need to add a bit of water from time to time. 
  4. If you really like turmeric, you can further accentuate the turmeric flavour by adding some turmeric powder.
Keyword chicken
Post Views: 2,179
Chinese, Malaysian, Other Home Cooks, Poultry, Side dish Tags:Asian cooking, chicken

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Comments (6) on “Braised Turmeric Chicken”

  1. Irene Chan says:
    May 25, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    5 stars
    Like you, I would prefer not to fry. This recipe looks really interesting and I’m certainly going to give it a try in the near future. Will let you know how my dish turns out. 😝

    Reply
    1. Alexandra Wong says:
      May 27, 2020 at 7:00 am

      Hello, I think you’re a turmeric lover too, right? 🙂 This recipe by Kimberly works and is easy too. Happy trying and yes, please let me know how it turns out!

      Reply
  2. michael lip says:
    May 29, 2020 at 7:58 am

    like the Latest article ie from Bistronomist to Baker

    Reply
    1. Alexandra Wong says:
      May 30, 2020 at 7:05 am

      Thanks for dropping in Michael, glad you enjoyed the article!

      Reply
  3. Irene Chan says:
    May 29, 2020 at 8:09 pm

    5 stars
    Alexandra, just cooked this tonight! It was incredibly yummy! And easy to cook too. It’s one of those dishes that you wished you had cooked more rice. I had another spicy dish. But surprisingly, hubby (who loves everything fiery) enjoyed your Braised Turmeric Chicken more!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!

    Reply
    1. Alexandra Wong says:
      May 30, 2020 at 7:06 am

      yay! So happy that you liked it. And yes, I myself was surprised too, how delicious this simple recipe was. Or maybe the two of us are just super turmeric fans haha

      Reply

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Recipe Rating




Who’s Ipohbunny, lah?

Welcome!

I’m Alexandra Wong, a self-taught Malaysian home cook on a mission to simplify and healthify recipes using affordable quality ingredients. I am a writer by profession, mostly known for my feelgood stories about people, travel and food.

ipohbunny

Mee goreng on a banana leaf  😍😍😍 After Mee goreng on a banana leaf  😍😍😍

After a big feast at lunch with friends, Mum and I decided to take it easy for dinner and share a mee goreng from a stall in our neighbourhood.

Wahhh, I can see why this stall has become mum's favourite.

Generous in portion and sauce, which is more savoury (I like!) than sweet, and cukup wok hei. I must have walloped 2/3 of the portion and left only a bit for Mum #baddaughter 

Nice chap too. Do support if you are in the neighbourhood :) Located along a stretch of food stalls on the busiest street in Tmn Merdeka, the gerai also has mee rebus and pasembor. 😊

📍Mee Goreng Penang Classic Maimoon
Jalan Labrooy
Taman Merdeka
5.30-10.30pm daily ("kecuali kalau saya ada hal")
RM6 per serving

#supportlocalbusinesses #Ipohhiddengem
#meegoreng #meegorengmamak #friednoodles #Malaysiablogger #Malaysianfoodblogger #eatwithipohbunny #Ipohfood #Ipohfoodie #Ipoh #Ipohawesomecity #Muslimfriendly #jommakan #Malaysianstreetfood #hawkerfood #Malaysianhawkerfood #foodreels #igreels
Look at that beauty of a sourdough loaf! Came acr Look at that beauty of a sourdough loaf!

Came across @danishbydanishbakery in some food channels so I dragged hubs to check it out last weekend.

Lucky me! Seconds after walking out of the bakery, I bumped into Erik, the father of the baker. Seconds later, as we were driving off, the baker-son turned up! Snap!

Danish's version is authentic, proper European style sourdough, meaning it's more dense and tangy than the localised/Malaysianised version of sourdough. Some people prefer the latter, but hubby and I are hardcore, so the more sour and denser the better 😎

Honestly, it was easier to find European style sourdough in KL so hubs and I have been missing it, until we found The Baking Garage, except that's all the way in Tjg Bungah. Then news of a new Danish bakery in Georgetown surfaced.... Hurrah!!

Generously coated with seeds and grains on the outside, the bread is good enough on its own. I had just made gochujang-miso butter, inspired by another channel I started following recently, @thomas_straker

The little bakery is very new and only has a few other pastries so far, but they all look Yumcious. Next time.

#sourdough #Europeansoursough #Penangbakery #Penangbakeries #Georgetown #malaysiablogger #Penangfood #bread #bakery #smallbusinesses #eatwithipohbunny #Danishbakery #healthybread
A chronological carousel of my journey as a writer A chronological carousel of my journey as a writer, just because 😀

1 - 2008. As a freelancer, I was super lucky to be selected to represent The Star on an 8 day trip around Noosa & Gold Coast. Feasted like royalty!
2 - @francischeah00 Remember this?? I wrote about your fusion Western stall and playfully called you the fierce headmaster haha! The story appeared in The Star.
3 - Interviewing Nelson Kwok founder of the Nelson's corn franchise. This came out as part of a series of interviews with entrepreneurs for MBA Postgraduate.
4 - Writing for Going Places. Travelled to Slim River to spend half a day with the founder of Roti Babu Mokhtar, a bakery institute in SR.
5 - for Scoot magazine. With one of the most talented chefs I've ever met, Sam Lau of @Artisanhandmadebread It was so educational shadowing him at the market, and later observing him at work in the kitchen
6 - Spent a fun day with Clarissa Chong, one of the sunnniest people I've ever met, of healthy food producer @cottage_farm for The Star
7- Catching up with Mr Sambad whom I've covered for Fireflyz and The Star. He is as sweet as his Apam Balik 😍
8 - In 2019 with @anisnabilah . I still remember her memorable words, which I included in the Going Places article, “Our ancestors have been using pandan for centuries and all of a sudden, Nigella Lawson says pandan is the next it ingredient, only then we are raving about it! Why are we waiting for other people to popularise our food? Malaysians like to say our food is the greatest but we don’t support our industry with action. We are willing to pay through our noses for Western food, yet we don’t want to spend more for a local dish that has undergone hours of labour and utilizes scores of ingredients to prepare.”
I'll probably get into trouble for saying this. My I'll probably get into trouble for saying this. My favourite kai si hor fun (chicken hor fun) stall is not in Ipoh, but at @queensbaymall 's food court upstairs.

I know, I'll get a lot of flak for this, but hear me out.

I'm an objective person and my reviews are not influenced by popular public opinion. I would not say a place has the best this or that just because it got a million awards, or a hundred blogs say so.

The only benchmark I use is my own tongue. And my mum's.

Now it was my hubby who first told me about the Souper Chef stall in Qbay. He told me the kai si hor fun was very good, which I Ipohmali girl listened with disbelief. How can..?

But one day, I felt like a kshf fix and tried it out. Omg. The soup was so rich.. So robust with flavour and BODY, like it'd been boiled with a hundred chicken's bones and collagen and shells from a thousand prawns. Okok you get my point.

Anyway, the staff told me that the founder is from Ipoh. I suspect he has tweaked it slightly to suit Penang palates, because its more intense and richer than the Ipoh version, which I've always found too mild.

So where my mum's tongue come in? 😂 She is probably the fussiest eater I know, partly because she's such an excellent cook herself. So I actually bungkus two packets and took then all the way to Ipoh,just to see their reaction.

They were gobsmacked. Both Mum and Dad agreed the soup was very good (hoe kau mei), the chicken too was exceptionally moist and the noodles tender and silky. Yes. Better than the ones we've had in Ipoh. But taste is personal, so I'll let you be the judge of that. 

In the meantime, let you see the photos for yourself :)

Psst the chicken rice is also very good. Their version is a bit different, it's oil rice generously flavoured with garlic. 

#kaisihorfun #chickenhorfun #Queensbay #foodcourt #chickennoodles #eatwithipohbunny #porkfree #Malaysianfood #Penanghiddengem #horfun #malaysianstreetfood #malaysiablogger
Look at this thing of beauty. Wat tan hor, char ho Look at this thing of beauty. Wat tan hor, char hor fun, sar hor fun ....it all refers to silky egg flat rice noodles.

It is not hard to make at all, but it does involve a few components. Personally, I prepare some of them ahead of time so I don't feel so pressured and rushed when I'm assembling everything before serving it up for dinner.

1. There are three stages to the whole process which I practise: i) prepare gravy ii) fry noodles iii) finish off gravy with vegetables, cornstarch and egg. Then assemble everything.
2. There are two components to the dish: the base gravy, and the noodles. I make the gravy ahead of time because if you're inexperienced, you might need to adjust the taste until it's just right. In fact you can bottle the gravy up and freeze it for future use. (PRO TIP: Make the gravy just a little bit salty because when it is eventually absorbed by the noodles, the salty balance will be just right - thank you Martin!) 
3. To make things even easier, I always prepare chicken stock ahead of time. Every weekend, I buy 3-4 chicken carcasses from a Halal chicken stall in the new Lip Sin market (their carcasses are cleaned well, and compared to other vendors, relatively free from yucky skin and fatty attachments). Then I'd boil them up to make 2-3 bottles of stock which I can use for all types of dishes throughout the week.
4. Instead of traditional prawns, chicken and pork, my version uses fish cutlets as the protein. I ate this in KL and loved it so much!

Here's the whole recipe.
1. Prepare base gravy. In a pot, heat up oil and add in aromatics: chopped whites of spring onions, garlic and a few slices of ginger. Fry until fragrant, then add oyster sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce (2:1:1/2 ratio - I find ratios more helpful than actually quantity)
2. Cook for a minute or too, then add chicken stock. Boil for 10 minutes at least to develop the flavours. Set aside.

(continue in comments)

#kuayteow #wattanhor #charhorfun #ricenoodles #Malaysiancooking #Malaysianrecipes #cookwithipohbunny #Malaysianhomecook #foodstagram #Malaysianfoodie #cookathome #homecooking #homecook #glutenfreerecipes #
Lately, I keep making these Dutch baby pancakes. T Lately, I keep making these Dutch baby pancakes. They are freaking delicious and soo easy to make. Just mix egg, flour and milk together into a batter, then pour it over hot butter in a cast iron skillet and bake it in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

The sky is the limit when it comes to the toppings. So far, I’ve tried pairing them with cheese, creamy mushrooms, rocket, egg. You can also add berries and cream and turn it into a dessert. Honestly, these are the most unscrew-up-able pancakes you can ever make!

Full recipe:
https://www.cookwithipohbunny.com/recipe-dutch-baby-pancakes/

#Dutchbabypancake #Dutchbabypancakes #pancakesforbreakfast #pancakes #easyrecipes #unscrewupable #cookwithipohbunny #Malaysianhomecook #Malaysiancook #breakfastideas #madeathome #instafood #foodstagram #familyfriendlyrecipes
OK, call it tourist trap or whatever you like, but OK, call it tourist trap or whatever you like, but I couldnt leave Langkawi without doing this. And I loved it!

One tip: To get to the climactic experience i.e. the sky bridge, you need to take the Skyglide (a mini tram) or walk through a nature trail

if you're not fit, don't be a macho-ass. Pay extra for the Skyglide.

Becauae the alternative is to walk down the 324 stepped nature trail (which isn't hard) but the return trip (you have to climb UP) is no joke. The steps are damn high. I might or might not be huffing and puffing when I got to the top. 

#langkawi #cuticutilangkawi #langkawiskycab #langkawiSkybridge #cuticutimalaysia #vacay #getaway #travelMalaysia #cablecar
Foodwise, we had some hits and misses in Langkawi Foodwise, we had some hits and misses in Langkawi but we were absolutely charmed by this little French creperie on Jalan Pantai Cenang!

Opened by a French couple, @myfrenchfactory has made quite a name for itself, judging by the rave reviews on Google.

They specialise in galette bretonne or French buckwheat galette, a thin pancake made with buckwheat flour, water, and salt and served with a savory filling, and is a specialty of the Bretagne or Brittany, a beautiful region in France's northwest.

It's quite a small place, so I sat next to the chef and had a front row view of him making our order, Galette No 9.

Big mistake.

Seeing Chef drizzle the hotplate with the galette batter and watching it crisp up into an appetizing golden brown at the edges, then stuff it to overflowing with caramelised onions, blue cheese and potatoes, only to realise that the order was not for me, but earlier customers who also ordered no 9 - omg, this was torture in the first degree.

By the time it arrived, I was ready to chew my knuckles off in hunger.

But I didn't, thank goodness, because every morsel was a delicious umami bomb. The combination of crispy-edged batter and creamy potatoes and intense hit of funky blue cheese ...ooo la la!

My ravenous state MIGHT have a wee bit to do with the fact that we'd walked all the way from our hotel to Pantai Cenang (we chalked up 20K steps that night), but the delectable galette was the perfect reward at the end of the road.

PS they do both sweet and savoury crepes.. I happened to order the savoury one.

#langkawi #pantaicenang #langkawidesserts #langkawicafe #frenchcrepes #frenchcrepeslangkawi #frenchfoodlangkawi #francemalaisie #langkawifood #langkawiyummy #dessertparlour #musttry #cuticutilangkawi #cuticutimalaysia #sedapgila #crêperie #brittany #bretagne #chocolate #chocolateandbanana #francaisenmalaisie #bestdessertslangkawi #homemade #frenchchefmalaysia #frenchcafe #buckwheat #galettesbretonnes #frenchcrepes #frenchfoodmalaysia #creperie
So proud of myself. I cleaned and cooked this salt So proud of myself. I cleaned and cooked this salted egg squid, all by myself!

Tasty or not?

"Better than the one we had in that Langkawi restaurant last week."

😀😀😀

Wahhh but I have to agree. (The restaurant one - squid was very chewy and sauce was too sweet.) 

And its all thanks to @shersonlian 's fantastic recipe!!

Tq Sherson, your recipes never never fail - and I love your tip of uisng the salted egg white itself (instead of salt) as the marinade for the sotong. No food wastage! 

This is how I did it, just slightly different from Sherson's method, because I had abalone juices on hand:

1. Clean squid. Cut tubes into ¼ in rings
2. Mince garlic, slice up red chilli, and strip curry leaves
3. Crack salted duck egg. Reserve the white.
4. Steam the yolk and then mash. 
5. Marinate squid in salted duck egg white and some curry powder.
6. Coat with rice flour. Shake off excess.
7. Heat up enough oil to double-fry coated squid.
8. Heat up a bit of oil. Add garlic, egg yolk, curry leaves and a little butter. 
9. When foamy and fragrant, add sliced red chilli, liquid (milk, chicken stock) to make it saucy and umami agents (oyster sauce, abalone juice from can, etc).
10. Add a touch of sugar. Taste for seasoning. 
11. Add back deep fried sotong, toss and serve.

Sherson's recipe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o4dywPQtzA

How to clean squid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf0BvXTvahg

#Malaysianhomecook #Malaysiancooking #saltedegg #saltedeggyolksauce #squid #saltedeggsquid #cookwithipohbunny #homecooking #sotong #sotongtelurmasin #sedapgiler #umamibomb #seafoodrecipes #squidrecipes
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