Recipe facts
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Prep
- 20 minutes (plus marinating)
- Cook
- 30 minutes
- Total
- 50 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy to Intermediate
- Spice
- Medium to hot (from the sambal)
Allergens Contains poultry and, in the sambal, shellfish (belacan) and often dried anchovy or fish. Contains no dairy, gluten (unless the chicken is floured) or coconut as written. Not vegetarian. See the halal-status field.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
The rice
- 2 cups (400 g) long-grain or jasmine rice, rinsed
- 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) water
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
The fried chicken
- 4 bone-in chicken pieces (thigh or leg)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 in (2.5 cm) fresh turmeric, grated, or 1 tsp (3 g) ground turmeric
- 1 tsp (6 g) salt
- 1/2 tsp (1 g) white pepper
- Oil, for shallow or deep frying
The sambal
- 8 dried red chillies, soaked, plus 2 fresh red chillies
- 4 shallots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp (5 g) belacan (fermented shrimp paste), toasted
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) oil
- 1 tbsp (15 g) tamarind pulp, soaked and strained, or 1 tbsp (15 ml) lime juice
- 1 to 2 tsp (4 to 8 g) sugar
- Salt, to taste
Equipment
- Rice cooker or saucepan with a tight lid
- Bowl for marinating
- Deep frying pan or wok
- Mortar and pestle or blender for the sambal
Method
- Cook the rice: combine the rinsed rice, water and salt in a rice cooker or covered saucepan and cook until tender and fluffy; keep warm.
- Marinate the chicken with the garlic, turmeric, salt and white pepper for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the sambal: pound or blend the soaked dried chillies, fresh chillies, shallots, garlic and toasted belacan to a paste. Fry the paste in the 2 tbsp oil over medium heat until fragrant, darkened and the oil separates, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the tamarind (or lime), sugar and salt, and cook to a thick, glossy sambal. Taste and adjust.
- Fry the chicken: heat oil in a frying pan or wok and fry the marinated chicken over medium heat, turning, until deep golden, crisp and fully cooked through, 12 to 18 minutes depending on the pieces. Drain on paper.
- To assemble each portion, put a mound of warm rice on a plate or a square of paper, add a piece of fried chicken, and spoon over a generous dab of sambal.
- Serve warm, wrapped or plated, with extra sambal for those who want more heat.
The Complete Edition
Nasi Katok sits in the Brunei chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Brunei chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.