Ayam suwir, or shredded chicken, is really a thing of beauty. It’s versatile and can be used in so many dishes, such as the classic nasi bakar ayam suwir (grilled rice with shredded chicken) or the quintessentially Balinese dish be siap mesitsit. It’s also often added to soups, especially those with chicken broth as its base, such as soto ayam madura (Madurese chicken soup). You’ll find something similar when you order mee soto (Malay/Indonesian chicken noodle soup) in food stalls all over Singapore. It can also be quickly stir-fried.
Indonesians love ayam suwir, and, like most of the rest of the world, also love deep-fried food. So what could be better than combining both?
In this recipe, I’ve made a simple ayam suwir, and then deep-fried it so that it becomes something like a crispy chicken floss. The result is a mess of thin strips that don’t really resemble chicken at all, in either texture or taste. To get this effect, a chicken breast is boiled along with ginger, salt, and white pepper. Then the chicken is shredded, and mixed with corn flour and a bunch of ground spices, namely: turmeric powder, chilli powder, and coriander powder. Lastly, the chicken is deep-fried in very hot oil, for a very short period of time. The oil needs to be very hot, or it’ll be oily. And the chicken needs to be fried for a very short time, or it’ll dry out.
One of the reasons I made this dish was because I was looking for an excuse to eat sambal dabu-dabu. This refreshing sambal from Manado can really be paired with anything. But lately, it’s been a trend in Indonesia to pour it over fried or grilled foods, and serve the whole thing as a single dish rather than an accompaniment.
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Ayam Suwir Crispy: Crispy Fried Shredded Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Chicken & Poultry
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Indonesian
- Diet: Hindu
Description
Ayam suwir crispy is a dish of chicken breast that’s been boiled, shredded, mixed with spices, and then deep-fried. A super crispy snack that should be enjoyed with chilli sauce or sambal.
Ingredients
- 200g chicken breast
- 2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced
- ¼ tsp Himalayan pink salt
- Dash of white pepper
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp chilli powder
- 3 tbsp corn four
- Oil for deep frying
- 1 litre water
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil. Add the ginger, salt, and dash of white pepper. Add the chicken breast and lower the heat to a simmer. Let the chicken cook slowly, and turn off the stove when done, about 30 minutes.
- Shred the chicken.
- Add the coriander power, chilli powder, turmeric powder, and corn flour to the shredded chicken. Mix well.
- In a pan or a wok, heat up the oil until very, very hot. Fry the shredded chicken until crispy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve with chilli sauce or sambal dabu dabu.
Notes
- In the photos, the chopped tomatoes are part of the sambal dabu-dabu and should be made separately.
Keywords: non-spicy, common ingredients, coriander, turmeric
