Ayam Goreng Bumbu (Indonesian Fried Chicken)
Ayam Goreng Bumbu is not just an ordinary fried chicken. It’s a traditional fried chicken from Indonesia that, when properly cooked, will taste flavorsome right to the bone.
Unlike the western fried chicken, Ayam Goreng Bumbu must be pre-cooked in spices before frying it. Therefore, you will not have to worry about reaching a particular oil temperature to cook your poultry. And you don’t have to worry about the uncooked chicken because you fry the meat.
Almost all of Indonesia’s regions have their own way of making spiced fried chicken. But the one I’m sharing with you here is the recipe from West Java, where the Sundanese are from.
My mom is Sundanese, so I grew up eating Sundanese-style fried chicken. In the West Java region, you’ll find Ayam Goreng in literally every eatery.
Just like any dish, there are many versions of Ayam Goreng recipes. Here, I’m biased by including my mom’s recipe and claiming it’s the best.
But in seriousness, everybody who has tried my mom’s fried chicken has loved it. Recently, one of my cousins, who runs a catering business, told my mom that she now uses this fried chicken recipe for her business and gets good feedback from her happy customers.
The Spices That You Need to Make Ayam Goreng Bumbu
- Garlic: You need to pound the garlic into a smooth garlic paste. If you run out of fresh garlic, use garlic powder for 2 teaspoons in this recipe.
- Coriander: You can use ready-made ground coriander or freshly grind the 3 teaspoons of whole coriander seeds.
- Turmeric: In Indonesia, fresh turmeric root is used for cooking. If you can use fresh turmeric, you need about 1 inch of it for this recipe. Peel and grind the turmeric with other spices. If you can’t get the fresh one, you can use dry ½ teaspoon turmeric powder.
- Kemiri (Candlenuts): This spice is actually a type of nut used for cooking and not to be eaten raw. Often, people use Macadamia nuts as a substitute as they both have a high oil content and the same texture when ground.
- Galangal: You must put the right amount of this root in your food, or its smell will be overpowering. You can use fresh Galangal or a ready-paste one. One teaspoon of Galangal is enough for this recipe if you use the paste.
- Salam leaf: This is often called the Indian or Indonesian bay leaf. However, it is different from the bay leaf as it is from an unrelated family of plants. The salad leaf is a Syzygium polyanthum plant, while the bay leaf is Lurus Nobilis. The smell of both types of leaf is distinguishably different, too. So I suggest you skip the salad leaf if you can’t get hold of it. Don’t substitute with bay leaf because it won’t suit the rest of the spices and herbs.
- Lemongrass: This herb gives the dish a refreshing citrus fragrance. In Indonesia, lemongrass is almost always used with salam leaf in many dishes.
- Salt and sugar: It is obvious that salt is the principal ingredient for tasty, savory food. But adding a little bit of sugar can enhance the flavor when you cook red or white meat. Therefore, we put a teaspoon or two of granulated sugar in this recipe.
- Cooking Oil for Deep Frying: You can use any neutral oil, vegetable or sunflower.
How to Make Indonesian Fried Chicken
Allow me to suggest you pierce your chicken pieces before cooking. If you’ve read my other meat recipes, I always recommend this.
The reason is that you want to make sure your meat is flavourful inside out, not just on the outside. You can try this and see if there’s any difference.
Anyway, you can make your spice paste after you get your chicken pieces ready and have pierced them. If you have a food processor, you can put all the spices and herbs (except the salam leaf), salt, and sugar in the processor. Give it a blitz until everything becomes smooth like a paste. Or, you can use a pestle and mortar to grind all the spices.
Then, you put the chicken pieces in a cooking pot and add the spice mixture and salam leaf (if using). Give it a stir or two until all the chicken pieces are coated with the spice.
Put the lid on and cook the poultry at low heat until the meat is cooked. If your chicken releases a lot of water/ juice, you may want to open the lid to help the moisture evaporate slightly. Or turn the heat a bit higher. But do take care so that the meat won’t get burned.
Once your chicken is thoroughly cooked with a nice thick spice left around it, you can get your frying pan ready and start heating the oil.
Deep fry the chicken until lightly golden or light brown. I prefer it light golden because it means the meat is not dry.
What To Enjoy Ayam Goreng Bumbu With
Traditionally, Indonesians enjoy this spiced fried chicken with rice and other side dishes like vegetable stir-fry or soups.
And finger foods such as vegetable fritters are popular companions as well. You can try sweetcorn fritters or mung bean-fritters.
For special occasions such as Eid-ul-Adha and Eid-ul-Fitr, many Indonesians will have this Ayam Goreng Bumbu as a companion for Lontong Sayur (the vegetable curry in coconut milk with hard-boiled rice cakes called lontong) along with Beef Rendang.
But really, you can enjoy your fried chicken with whatever you like. I often eat it with salad or gado-gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce).
Make in Bulk and Keep for Another Day
There’s nothing that I love more than cooking something that I can store and keep for when I don’t have time to cook.
Now, this fried chicken is one of those.
You can freeze and store the fully fried chicken and just reheat it in the oven when you need it. My favorite way is to cook the chicken with spice thoroughly and then let it cool down before I store it in my freezer. When I need it, I can leave it to thaw in the fridge the night before I fry it.
Other Indonesian Chicken Recipes
Thank you for reading the post. I hope you’re now inspired to try this Ayam Bumbu recipe. If you do, can you share how you like Ayam Goreng Bumbu by leaving your views in the comments below? I would also love you to share the post and pin it.
Please follow me on Facebook, Instagram and/or Pinterest to sneak a peek at what’s cooking in my kitchen.
Before you go, don’t forget to check my other Indonesian chicken recipes that you may like.
- Ayam Kecap (Chicken Soy Sauce).
- Kari Ayam (Chicken Curry).
- Sate Ayam (Chicken Satay).
- Ayam Rica Rica: Indonesian Manadonese Spicy Chicken.
- Ayam Suwir Bumbu Bali – Balinese spicy shredded chicken.
Thank you and all the best.
Ayam Goreng Bumbu – Indonesian Fried Chicken
Equipment
- Cooking pan
- Frying pan
- Slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 1.3 lbs chicken cut in pieces.
- 5 cloves of garlic.
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander.
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder.
- 6 candlenuts/ Kemiri optional
- ½ inch galangal.
- 2 salam leaves optional.
- 1 lemongrass.
- 1 teaspoon salt.
- 2 teaspoons sugar.
- Cooking oil for deep frying.
Instructions
- Clean and cut the chicken into pieces as desired.
- Grind the garlic, candlenuts/ Kemiri, and galangal into a paste.
- Put the chicken pieces in a cooking pan.
- Add in all the spices and the herbs. Give a stir until all the pieces are coated with spices.
- Put the lid on and turn to high-medium for about 5 minutes until you hear the sound of cooking. Then turn the heat to low to cook further for about 30 minutes.
- Keep checking and stirring the chicken every now and again, you don’t want it to burn at the bottom. I do it about 2-3 times until the poultry is cooked.
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok or a deep frying pan.
- Fry the chicken pieces until lightly golden.
- Enjoy.
Notes
- If you can not get hold of Kemiri (Candlenuts), you can use Macadamia nuts. And if you can’t get either of them, you can skip altogether.
- Salam leaf has a unique fragrant that I don’t recommend to substitute it with any other herb. If you can’t get Salam leaf, you may just want to leave it and cook your chicken without it.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.
