Chicken Tandoori...supposedly

I've always been kind of freaked out by the red chicken. I mean, I eat it, but I had no idea what was on that chicken. Is it food coloring? Is it some kind of spice? Does the tandoori oven turn it red? No idea.
So, since I had some garam masala lying around in the cupboard, I thought I might as well learn how to make it.

Some people actually use red food coloring. I was surprised. The traditional recipes, however, use annatto seed paste--otherwise known as achiote. I usually see achiote in Latin American dishes, so I was really surprised when I read about this. But, being the amateur that I am, I don't have that in my cupboard. I mean, really, I don't ever use it for anything. Therefore, my chicken was not red. It just looked like roast chicken. It smelled ten times better than regular roast chicken though.

Creepin' on the chicken...

I've gotten very addicted to bon appetit lately. What a great magazine. I spent a whole day online last week, looking at their recipes. What great pictures they have!

bon appetit's version

I don't know what the heck they did to make it look that way. I love the tinge of orange on those chicken.

Easy Tandoori Chicken (adapted from bon appetit)

1 cup of plain, whole-milk yogurt

1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro, or 2 tbs of dried
3 tbs of oil
1 generous tbs of garam masala
2 to 2 1/2 tsp of salt
1 large garlic clove, smashed
8 pieces of chicken thighs (Man up; use dark meat.)
1 medium-large red onion (I like red onions better.)

1. To make the marinade, mix yogurt, cilantro, oil, garam masala, and garlic. Set aside.
2. The original recipe asked for 2 tsp of salt mixed into the marinade. But, I like sprinkling the salt directly on the chicken so that I know how much salt each chicken is actually getting. So, do it whichever way you like.
3. To marinate, get a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and place the chicken pieces and the marinade inside. Get as much air out of the bag as you can and seal it. Move it around with your hands so that each piece of meat is covered with the yogurt mixture. Leave it in your fridge for 24 hours.
4. When you are ready to roast, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Slice the onion into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices, and spread on to a rimmed baking sheet. Lay the chicken pieces on the onions and roast for about an hour, or until juices run clear when the biggest piece of meat is pierced with a knife.

See, told you. It looks like regular roast chicken. I love the color on that skin though. I think Ina Garten would be proud. Now, just serve the chicken with the sweet, roasted onions, and maybe a little bit of rice. That sounds like a wonderful evening.

Bon appetit, y'all.

Bubur Ayam Jakarta (Jakartan Chicken Porridge)

I love this. This might really be one of my absolute favorite foods.
If you're truly from Jakarta, you don't call it 'bubur ayam', or chicken porridge. True locals call this 'bubur abang'. 'Bubur' means porridge and the word 'abang' means older brother. It's a little weird, but let me explain.

Street food is big where I'm from. If you're hungry, it doesn't matter what time of day it is; you can walk out on to street and find food vendors everywhere. It's really cheap, too.

Credit to khurram at travelermania

Credit to Rebecca Distler at The Globalist

Credit to khurram at travelermania

My point is, there's a lot of food. One of the most popular street foods in Jakarta, especially for breakfast, is the chicken porridge. Like I said before, it's called 'bubur abang', or older brother's porridge. It's called that because many of the vendors are men, and they're most likely 25 years old, or older. So, we call the porridge 'older brother's porridge' in order to refer to the Jakartan porridge that's sold on the street.

I remember when I was little, I had to wait until my dad went off to work before I could eat this. He didn't want me eating stuff from the vendors because, well, they're not the most sanitary things. My mom has nothing against it, so my dad got mad at her a lot for enabling me. I got really annoyed with my dad sometimes. I couldn't wait to grow up. That way I can eat whatever the hell I want.

So, I made some porridge today. I forgot how dangerous it can get. It was bubbling and it kind of splattered all over the place. I got a burn on my hand. Not fun.
I did anticipate some stirring to be involved though. For those of you who have never made porridge or congee before, it takes about 1 and a half to 2 hours to get it to the right consistency. And, that's if you use cooked rice. If you use uncooked rice, you can expect to stand in front of the stove for about 2 and a half to 3 hours (depending on how much you're making), continuously stirring the damn thing until it's smooth.

20 minutes in...

After about 2 hours of continuous stirring...

If you want to make this, make sure you have at least 3 hours of free time. Just saying.
The porridge is made from rice, obviously, chicken broth, water, and most importantly, Indonesian bay leaves. Just two or three for 1 and a half cups of rice. It can't get any simpler. It just needs time and care.
The traditional 'meat' in this dish is chicken--Indonesian fried chicken.

Well-seasoned, crispy fried chicken. Good, huh? Don't get too attached to it. I'm going to have to shred it and ruin it for you.

Oh, I have something very important to say. Do not throw away the skin. I will find out and hunt you down. Whenever I see people use cooked chicken, whether it's fried or roasted, they throw away the skin. *cough cough* Food network people *cough cough* It pisses me off.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
There are ready to use seasoning mixes for this fried chicken. Since I'm not my mother, I used the mix--with some added ingredients, of course. I added a couple slices of galangal root and some Indonesia bay leaves.

This is the seasoning mix I use.

We shall assemble.

A couple ladlefuls of porridge and some chicken...

Add Chinese crullers and green onions...

Add tapioca crackers, Indonesian sweet soy sauce, and some chili  sauce

Now, take a spoon and give 'em hell.

Revisiting my childhood

The first thing I learned to cook by myself when I was little was roasted chicken. I know, most American kids learn to back cookies, brownies, etc. I'm Asian. What did you expect? Don't say sushi.
Anyway, my dad taught me how to make roasted chicken with a hoisin sauce based marinade.

It had been years since I made this. And, sure enough, the taste was different. It was edible, sure. And, it was pretty damn good, but I remember it being so much better back when I was 6 years old. meh. Maybe I didn't know any better back then. But then again, I might be losing my touch. Scary.