Fried Belachan Chicken

Starting from end of October, the weather in SA has been rather pleasant. It is still sunny but the average temperature at the moment is about 20ºC/ 68ºF during the day and 10ºC/ 50ºF at night. It is amazing how the temperature changes from the extreme heat (50ºC/ 122ºF) in the summer to the cool weather that I'm enjoying currently. How I wish we could have such nice weather all year long!

I woke up early this morning, marinated some chicken, and then sat in the backyard with a cup of coffee and a book, thoroughly enjoyed the sun and the cool breeze. The bougainvillea in the garden is in full bloom and I love the contrast of the red flowers against the blue sky.



After sitting there for almost 3 hours, I went back to the kitchen and fried the chicken pieces that I marinated earlier.


This fried chicken recipe is inspired by Chez Pim's post. Her Thai fried chicken looks so delicious that I know I have to give it a try. But I tweaked the recipe quite a bit and made it a Malaysian version using chilli padi, belachan and curry leaves. You might not believe it but this is my first time making fried chicken, well, somehow the thought of dealing with a pot of hot oil is not that appealing to me. ;-)


The fried chicken was incredibly yummy - cripsy, spicy and with a mixture of aroma from curry leaves and belachan. Forget about KFC, I'm going to make my own when I crave for fried chicken next time!

Fried Belachan Chicken

Ingredients:
10 pieces of chicken wings and drumsticks
8 chilli padi
5 garlic cloves
30 curry leaves, about 4-5 sprigs
Belachan/ shrimp paste, about the size of 1-cm cube
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Rice flour
Oil for frying, it should be enough to fill about 2-inch from the bottom of your deep-frying pot


Method:
1) Using a blender, chop chilli padi, garlic, curry leaves and belachan until fine.
2) Place chicken pieces in a big bowl, then mix with chopped ingredients, light soy sauce, fish sauce and salt. Keep the chicken in the fridge and marinate for at least 3 hours.
3) When the chicken is ready for frying, heat up oil in a pot.
4) In the mean time, fill a plate with rice flour (I used about 1 cup) and then take the chicken out from the fridge.
5) When the oil is ready (about 175-190ºC/ 350-370ºF, or, if you do not have a termometer, use a wooden chopstick and dip into the oil, bubbles should form around the chopstick), drop the chicken pieces one by one onto the flour, making sure that the chicken are well coated, then shake the pieces slightly to remove excess flour.
6) Gently drop the chicken pieces into the hot oil, fry until they turn golden brown all over.
7) Prepare another plate with a few pieces of paper towel on top, place the fried chicken on the plate. When the excess oil is absorbed, transfer to a serving plate, serve.

Comments

squawmama said…
Hey girlfriend..... Thanks for this yummy recipe... I'll be trying it soon... Have a fun day eating that GREAT chicken...

(((HUGS)))
Donna
Snooky doodle said…
this is such a nice treat i love it !! looks awesome !
Anonymous said…
Looks good.. with chili padi... wowow.. my god.. I truly love this dish.. looks so crispy!!
I haven't had deep fried chicken for a while.. this is truly good.. I would maybe serve with extra sambal for dipping, what do you think?
Anonymous said…
Wow! This looks delicious! I cant wait to try it! Thank you for sharing this recipe! oh and if you have time will you drop by at Foodista ? We are building an online food and cooking encyclopedia ala wikipedia and you can also check out our recipes on the site as well :) Cheers!
Anonymous said…
I haven't made fried chicken before too! But this recipe is too yummy to resist. Bookmarking this!
This is so delicious !
Piggy said…
Donna - Thanks. I can't wait to see your version of fried chicken. :-)

Snooky doodle - Yeah, this is a nice treat once in a while, but I can't have it too often, or else my waistline will keep expanding!

Leemei - oohh! what a brilliant idea. Fried chicken and sambal definitely go well together!

Foodista - Thanks!

Didally - haha! now I found another person who has not done fried chicken before. ;-)

Denise ^ ChickyEGG - Thanks for dropping by!
Edith said…
We just had KFC last nite (pestered by my kids). I shld say it might be my last time eating that. From bad to worst now. I am keeping your recipe in my KIV folder. Thanks.
Anonymous said…
That looks so good. I've never fried chicken either. Maybe it's time, huh? Good job!
Y said…
Oh wow. I haven't had fried chicken in ages. That just looks tooo good!
Belacan and curry leaves, you say? Two very powerful flavors! I would have liked to try it!
daydreamer said…
I love chicken wings! And deepfried curry leaves - weird liking huh? LOL. I also don't do fried stuff at home much, but this recipe looks so tempting. Will KIV! Thanks!!!
Stardust said…
I'm so worn out, drained... most of all, HUNGRY. I want some of those chicken!

I will surely try them. Muahahahha!

There's much to do here as my parents just went back, in case I don't drop by later, Merry Christmas in advance to you and yours. Hugs.
Anonymous said…
hello,
Your recipe sounds very interesting, I will try it one day.
There is a typo on the word "termometer" (the letter 'h' is missing, at step 5 in the method section.