Semur Ayam: Dutch-Indonesian Chicken Braised in Soy Sauce

This wonderful dish of chicken braised in soy sauce is classic Indonesian home cooking! It’s not spicy at all, but tasty, and great for the whole family.

📝 Ingredients

• Half chicken, cut in pieces and washed thoroughly.
• 2 potatoes, peeled, cut to big chunks and soaked in cold water
• 6 shallots, peeled, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
• 3 cm ginger, peeled, chopped
• 1 lemongrass, bruised, knotted
• 0.5 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 5 tbsp sweet soy sauce
• Salt to taste
• 1 big red tomato, chopped
• 2 bird’s eye chillies, halved, remove the seeds (optional)
• 700 ml water
• 3 tbsp cooking oil

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Grind or blend into a fine paste: shallots, garlic and ginger.
2. 2Heat the oil over medium high heat in a wok, and then sauté the ground spices and lemongrass until fragrant, around 3 minutes.
3. 3Add the chicken pieces, and fry for about 4 minutes.
4. 4Add salt, nutmeg and white pepper powder.
5. 5Add water.
6. 6Add sweet soy sauce. Mix and bring to boil.
7. 7When the soup boils, add the potatoes. Turn the heat to medium low and simmer for around 20 minutes.
8. 8Add the chopped tomato and chillies, and continue cooking for around 5 minutes.
9. 9Turn off the heat and let the semur rest for a while before serving.