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Opor Ayam: A family recipe for the curious and hungry

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Opor is a dish from Indonesia, in particular Central Java that is cooked and braised in coconut milk and popular during Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

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Free Malaysia Today

A Banjar aunt reminisced, “Oh yes, that was what your grandmother used to tell us – that your mother used to make everything better than “orang kita” (“our own people”). And that by any standards, is high praise indeed ~My Mother’s Table

One of the best family recipes that a friend, Intan so kindly shared is her mother’s Opor Ayam. For her, Opor is a dish that only the best of the best cooks of her paternal family members can prepare.

However, her mother proved her wrong by getting such high praise from one of her Banjar aunts.

Opor is a dish from Indonesia, in particular Central Java that is cooked and braised in coconut milk. It is popular during Hari Raya Aidilfitri and usually eaten with ketupat and sambal beef liver.

Once you’ve tried this gem of a recipe, you will be begging for seconds.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken – chopped into 12 pieces. (Cleaned)

Blended ingredients (blend finely in a food processor)

  • 3 fresh red chilies
  • 5 dried red chilies (soaked in hot water) or 2 tablespoons of chilli powder
  • Half a stick of the root-end of lemongrass
  • 10 red shallots or 2 large red onions
  • 5g lengkuas
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 5g young ginger root
  • 5g fresh turmeric root or 1 tablespoon dried turmeric powder
  • 2 sticks lemongrass (bruised)
  • 3 pieces asam keping
  • 2 large fresh tomatoes (chopped)
  • 4 fl oz of fresh first-pressed santan
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar

For garnish:

  • Chopped spring onions and chopped Chinese celery leaf
  • 1/4 cup of flavourless cooking oil
Free Malaysia Today

Method

  • Heat oil in a pot. Fry the 2 sticks of bruised lemongrass.
  • Fry the blended ingredients until fragrant and “pecah minyak”. This should take about 10 minutes on a medium fire with occasional stirring.
  • Add the chicken pieces. Stir through and add in chopped tomatoes.
  • Cover pot with lid. Leave on medium to low fire until it boils and chicken is cooked through. This should take about 20 minutes.
  • Once chicken is cooked, add santan and seasoning. Leave pot lid off and boil on low fire.
  • Once the colour of the dish has deepened to a rich orange and the oil has risen to the top, turn off the fire and garnish.

This article first appeared in butterkicap.com

Butterkicap is a food and culture platform and community that enables anyone to experience Malaysia through stories of her people, food and places.

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