Chicken Rendang with Crispy Skin
Quick answerChicken rendang is chicken slow-cooked in coconut milk with a paste of shallot, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass and chili, finished with toasted desiccated coconut. For crispy skin, bake the cooked chicken at the end; skip the baking for the traditional version. Allow about 2 hours. Also called rendang ayam.
This Chicken Rendang recipe is a traditional Malaysian recipe, with all the steps curated based on the traditional method. Even desiccated coconut are stir-fried from fresh desiccated coconut instead of using a pre-stir-fried desiccated coconut. Since Chicken Rendang grabbed international attention from the Masterchef UK show, I’ve infused the idea from there and making the chicken crispy.
P/S : If you prefer the traditional version, not the crispy skin version, simply skip the baking steps.
How Traditional Chicken Rendang looks like
Malaysian Contestant, Zaleha presented a Rendang Chicken during her cooking competition at the Masterchef UK. The Masterchef UK’s judges, Gregg Wallace and John Torode dismissed Zaleha by commenting her chicken is not crispy and not cooked.
Watch the video below to know what I have to say about the Masterchef incident.
Type of Chicken Rendang
The verb of “rendang” – “merendang” simply means stew. Rendang usually takes hours to cook until all the meat is fully cooked. There are two types of rendang – dried rendang and wet rendang. Both are cooked with the same core ingredients, the dried rendang will have all the coconut milk evaporated and sort of finish with frying. Where the wet rendang also known as Kalio is cooked for a shorter period of time and the coconut milk has not fully evaporated.
Author have a say…
Perhaps the judges in a hasty fashion spit out the wrong comment and sparked a social media storm with netizens raging over them.
Nevertheless, I have never cooked Rendang before, but this time to join the ongoing trend, here I present my version of crispy skin chicken rendang recipe!
Source : Wiki
The recipe
Chicken Rendang with Crispy Skin
I bet everyone from Malaysia knows about this incident very well, the crispy skin Chicken Rendang inspired by the Masterchef UK show. Though many went to criticize that incident, this gives me room to reinvent a traditional dish. If you still prefer the traditional rendang, this recipe works the same, you just needed to remove the baking step, and you get the same traditional rendang.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 30 min
- Total
- 2 hr
- Course
- Main Course
- Cuisine
- Asian, Malay
- Keywords
- Chicken rendang recipe, Crispy Skin Rendang, Rendang recipe
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Spice Paste
Chili Paste
Instructions
Preparation – Main
Clean chicken and set aside.
Pluck kaffir lime leaves off its petiole, gently fold it and thinly slices them. Set aside.
Fold turmeric leaves and roughly slice it.
Prepare the other ingredient.
Preparation – Spice Paste
Clean and peel shallot, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and galangal. Cut them into smaller pieces.
Cut only the white part of the lemongrass.
Put all ingredients into a blender and add water as necessary to blend. Blend finely.
Preparation – Chili Paste
Remove the seed of red chili.
With a strainer, shake off the dust from dried chili.
Put all ingredients into a blender and add water as necessary to blend. Blend finely.
Cooking
With a dry pan/wok, over low heat, toast desiccated coconut until they turn golden. Set aside.
Preheat a clean pan/wok with cooking oil.
Add the spice paste and fry over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the oil begins to separate from the paste.
Add water and thoroughly mix in.
Add chicken whole leg, chili paste, sliced kaffir lime leaves, and sliced turmeric leaves.
Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Keep covered and simmer for 30 minutes and check frequently to prevent the bottom from burning.
Add coconut milk and toasted desiccated coconut.
Further reduce for another 10 minutes.
Season with salt and sugar.
Remove chicken whole leg from the gravy and scrap off excessive gravy from the skin.
Transfer chicken whole leg to a baking tray.
Transfer rendang gravy to another container.
Baking
Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius.
Bake chicken whole leg for about 30 minutes or until the skin turns crispy.
Remove chicken whole leg from oven and serve.
Watch how it's made
Notes
Serving suggestion
- Goes well with coconut rice, fried anchovies, hard-boiled eggs, roasted peanut, and sambal.
Cooking tips
- The amount of chili varies depending on your tolerance towards spicy.
- The temperature of the oven could vary depending on your type of oven and size of the oven.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 1205 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 76 g
- Protein
- 15 g
- Fat
- 101 g
- Saturated fat
- 51 g
- Cholesterol
- 1 mg
- Sodium
- 5905 mg
- Fibre
- 20 g
- Sugar
- 20 g
Estimates only.
Questions
What is the difference between dry and wet rendang?
Both use the same core ingredients. Dry rendang is cooked until the coconut milk is gone. Wet rendang (kalio) cooks for less time and keeps some coconut milk.
What does rendang mean?
It comes from “merendang”, which means to stew.
Why is the skin crispy?
This version is baked at 230°C after stewing, after the Masterchef UK debate. Skip the baking for the traditional version.
What do I serve with chicken rendang?
Coconut rice, fried anchovies, hard-boiled eggs, roasted peanuts and sambal.
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3 comments
Hannah Flack · 11 Mar 2020
I don’t usually post on recipe blogs, but I just had to say how delicious this was. I made it exactly as the recipe states, and it was just absolutely divine. Making it again this weekend for a friend who doesn’t eat dairy. Thanks so much!
Ethan WongEthan · 3 Apr 2020
most welcome!
Harold Burton · 12 Jun 2021 · ★★★★★
I tasked the hubby with throwing this in the crockpot the other day for dinner. It turned out so good! I wouldn’t change a thing. I also shared it on my blog today — linking back to you of course 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!