AHONG YEANG (First runner-up)
Roasted chicken with coconut gravy, served with a side of ulam rice and long beans and offals

Chicken wings and chops are pan-fried until crispy, and served with chicken breast that is poached in red palm oil and butter. The dish is topped with a piece of chicken breast skin that has been roasted for 40 minutes. It’s accompanied with a side of ulam rice containing dried shrimps and herbs.

Palm oil tip: “Palm oil is value for money, and I like using it for deep-frying due to its high smoking point and its ability to remain “clean” – which means that it is stable and does not affect the taste of the end product. As long as I am able to control the temperature, palm oil allows me to cook things more accurately. For ingredients like chicken breast that dries up fast, I poach it in oil,” said Yeang.

Ingredients:

Roast chicken
Two whole organic chickens
Chicken breast skin – 12 pcs
Gizzard – 7 pcs
Liver – 7 pcs
Heart – 7 pcs
Salt
Baking powder – 1 tbps
One yellow onion
One bulb garlic
One 2-inch ginger
One carrot
Local shallots – 3
Red palm oil – 1 litre
Refined palm oil – 3 litres
Red Chili – 50g
Shallots – 100g
French butter – 450g

Vegetables
Baby Carrots – 240g
Long Green Beans – 400g
Ikan bilis kopek grade AA soaked in water – ¾ cup
Oyster sauce – 9 tbsp
Sweet soy sauce – 4 tbsp
Local shallots – 200g
Garlic – 25g
Red chili – 75g
Black pepper – 5g
Ice water

Sauce
Santan – 375g
Tomato puree – 40g
Indian shallots – 165g
Old ginger – 30g
Galangal – 30g
Lemon grass – 50g
Red chili – 70g
Garlic – 55g
Asam keping – 10g
Red Palm oil – 300g
Water – 200g
Salt – 5g
Sugar – 30g
Gula melaka – 50g
Peeled peanuts – 60g
French butter – 50g

Rice
Thai Fragrant rice – 400g
Ikan bilis kopek grade AA (soaked in water) – 100g
Udang kering grade AA (soaked in water) – 100g
Red palm oil – 2 tbsp
Red chili – 60g
Daun kaduk – 4 pieces
Ulam raja – 1 bundle
Pucuk gajus – 1 bundle
Daun kesum – 1 bundle

Garnish
Italian parsley – 1 packet
Two local shallots
Two Indian Shallots
Two limes
Peeled petai – 100g
White vinegar – ½ cup
Sugar – ½ cup

Method:

Roast chicken
1. Break down chicken to breast, wings, and chicken chops.
2. Rub salt and baking powder on chicken chops and wings and dry in chiller for 2 hours.
3. Put chicken skins between roasting pan and parchment paper. Roast for 40 mins at 190°C.
4. Pan fry chops and wings skin side down for 18 minutes until skin crispy.
5. Poach breast in red palm oil and butter for 20 mins at 70°C.

Offals
1. Gizzards, hearts, heads and legs go into pressure cooker with onion, shallots, carrot and ginger. Add boiling water. Cook for 30 minutes under high pressure.
2. Remove and peel gizzard. Thinly slice with a mandolin.
3. Season liver with salt and black pepper.
4. Pan fry liver in butter until medium rare. Roll chicken in fine black pepper, salt, chopped parsley and lime juice.

Vegetables
1. Cook long beans in boiling salted water for 2 minutes and blanch in ice water.
2. Repeat the process for the carrots.
3. Finely slice the rest of the ingredients.
4. Stir fry beans with the condiments, adding chopped offals at the end.

Sauce
1. Blend all herbs with red palm oil.
2. Sauté tomato puree and add the blend.
3. Cook until oil starts to split.
4. Add santan, sugar salt and peanut to taste.
5. Simmer asam keeping to taste.

Rice
1. Rice cooked and tossed with red palm oil.
2. Sauté ikan bilis and udang kering until crunchy
3. Chop herbs into fine pieces.