Ayam Pongteh (Nyonya Chicken Stew)

Peranakan or Nyonya cooking is a marriage of Chinese and Malay ingredients as well as techniques. So who are the Peranakans? Well, they are descendants of Chinese Migrants who inter-married with local Malays in mainly Penang, Malacca, Indonesia and Singapore.  Malacca is a haven for Nyonya cooking so be sure pay this town a visit when you are in Malaysia! 


Ayam(Chicken) Pongteh or Babi(Pork) Pongteh is a famous Nyoyna dish, one that's always cooked during festive occasions such as Chinese New Year, Birthdays etc. It's always a good idea to cook a big batch of this as the flavours developed even more after being kept overnight.


Recipe taken from Secrets of Nyonya Cooking by Florence Tan but I made a few changes such using a food processor to chop up the shallots and garlic as I was lazy. I would have probably taken a while day if i tried pounding them! I also drastically reduced the amount of oil required as 180ml just sounds very scary! haha The amount of light soy sauce was halved too. The following recipe is the exact one found in the cookbook, for those who are daring enough to use that much oil. :)

Ingredients
180ml cooking oil
30 Shallots, peeled and finely pounded 
15 cloves garlic,peeled and finely pounded
150grams soy bean paste (tau cheong)
1kg chicken,cut into bite-size pieces
10 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked in water and stemmed
1litre water
3 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons thick soy sauce
50g sugar
1 sprig coriander leaves


Method
1) Heat cooking oil and fry pounded shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add preserved soy bean paste and saute until oil surfaces.
2) Add the chicken and mushrooms. Stir-fry until well mixed. Add water.
3) Bring to a boil and add potatoes. Season with the 2 soy sauces and sugar. Lower the heat and simmer for 25 mins until potatoes and chicken are cooked.
4) Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.