I have recently been searching for recipes that use up lemons as I seem to…
Ayam Areh: Indonesian Chicken Recipe
Ayam Areh is an Indonesian Chicken recipe of chicken in coconut milk with Indonesian spices. It looks bland but tastes amazing.
I am always fascinated by food from different countries. Travel brings so many experiences, the second you step off a plane you are hit with the sounds, sights and smells belonging to a different culture.
When you visit restaurants the menu lists unfamiliar dishes, often in a foreign language. What you order can be a nice surprise or sometimes a shock. Each experience adds a new chapter to your travel tales and often you find a dish that you want to recreate when you get home.
Now you can discover the tastes of the world in your own kitchen. Kitchen Trotter is a world cuisines subscription box and it is now available in the UK. I was delighted to receive this months box which was Indonesian themed. I decided to recreate one of the recipes in the booklet that came with the box, Ayam Areh.
The Kitchen Trotter box is a cooking kit which allows you to cook recipes from a different country every month. Each box includes four or five recipes that serve four to six people as well as six to seven ingredients that allow you to recreate the recipes. These ingredients can be hard to find. The cost of the subscription varies depending how long your order for. One month is £29.99, 6 months is £174 and a year is £336.
The Indonesian Kitchen Trotter box contained a range of exotic ingredients, none of which I had heard of. These were:
- Gado Gado mix – a peanut based mix
- Kecap Manis – A sweet soy sauce
- Terasi – a fermented prawn paste
- Combava leaves – combava is a citrus fruit similar to a lemon.
- Lemon grass powder
- Pandan aroma – this is the essence from a pandan plant
- Kemiri nuts – these look like a hazelnut but taste different. They are used ground in cooking as they are hard to digest eaten raw
The box also came with an hour glass to help time three minutes of cooking time. There is also a recipe book which gives some information about the country as well as the recipes.
The Ayam Areh is a chicken dish that made use of the combava leaves, terasi and Kemiri nuts from the Kitchen Trotter box. The other ingredients I provided myself and they were all things I had in my kitchen, apart from a tin of coconut milk. The dish was really easy to make, after making a paste with onions, garlic and the terasi in my food processor, the ingredients were just cooked in one pan. I served the dish with some fried rice. Although the dish does look rather brown in colour, it does taste lovely. It has a slightly sweet taste with a background hint of nuttiness and onion which works really well with the chicken. I was pleased with my first attempt at an Indonesian dish.
Ayam Areh: Indonesian Chicken Recipe
Ayam Areh (recipe courtesy of Kitchen Trotter)
Ingredients:
4 Combava leaves (aka kaffir lime leaves)
1 tbsp shrimp paste (Terasi – Ams Koe Poe)
5 Kemiri nuts (Epices et Delices & Kitchen Trotter)
1tbsp lemongrass powder (Terre Exotique & Kitchen Trotter)
2-3 chicken breasts
2 bay leaves
2tbsp vegetable oil
2tbsp brown sugar
400ml coconut milk
3 onions
3 cloves of garlic
1tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 cube chicken stock
salt & pepper
rice to serve
In a mixer mix the onions, garlic, kemiri nuts and shrimp paste. When a semiliquid paste is obtained, keep aside.
Bring 20ml of water to boil in a saucepan, add the stock cube, stir well and set aside.
Dice the chicken and brown on all sides in a deep frying pan with oil. Cook for about 5 minutes. Pour in the paste and stir for a couple of minutes.
(bring out your chemical warfare gas mask, sorry, couldn’t resist)
Add the coconut milk, the stock and stir well. Add the brown sugar, bay leaves and combava leaves (slightly crush them in your fingers to release the flavour), the lemongrass powder, coriander and stir well.
Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer on low for about 45 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Stir regularly.
Serve with rice.
Galina from Chez Maximka has also been trying the Kitchen Trotter box and made the Gado Gado salad recipe, one which I am going to try next. Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews got inventive and used up some of her kitchen cupboard ingredients to make Coconut Prawn Laksa which looks lovely. The Kitchen Trotter box would make a lovely gift for someone who loves cooking.
If you fancy trying some other recipes from around the world I recently made chicken with yellow bean sauce. For recipes closer to home why not have a look at my selection of regional recipes
I was sent the box in return for an honest review, my opinions are my own and I was not obliged to say anything nice.
Galina V says
Thank you for your kind mention! I cooked the same dish yesterday. I thought it didn’t look or smell particularly appetizing, but it tasted surprisingly good, really enjoyed it.
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
It was very tasty and I agree it did not look that appetising. I must admit I did not notice the smell
Eb Gargano says
What a fabulous idea for a meal kit box. Need to check this one out. I love cooking food from around the world but, like you say, it can be hard to get hold of authentic ingredients in the local supermarket! I have had lots of fun and games recently trying to source Middle Eastern ingredients for a book review I’m working on. I got a few bits from Tesco then found preserved lemons and rosewater in my local shop of all places and finally tracked down Pomegranate Molasses in Waitrose. The idea of it all coming in one box appeals enormously! 🙂 Eb x
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
That sounds like hard work for a meal, hope it was worth it! Quite surprising to find preserved lemons in your local shop. I want to get some of those for a few things I want to make
Angela says
This is Great & looks delicious too! I had not heard of Kitchen Trotter, but I really like the idea of cooking things from all over the world so will check it out! I would love for you to share this at my Sunday Fitness & Food Link-Up at http://www.marathonsandmotivation.com
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
Thanks I will pop over and have a look
Angela says
Thank you for sharing!!
Honest Mum says
This looks delicious! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
We love Indonesian curries! They have the perfect amount of spice, but with an oriental twist too.
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
I am definitely going to try them more often
Connie says
I received my box on Friday and am so excited to get cooking! I’m familiar with the other recipes but this one is new to me so I cannot wait to try it out – yours looks great with the fried rice.
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
All of the recipes were unfamiliar to me. It is so nice to try something new. Looking forward to trying the others