Ayam Pongteh — Nyonya Family Recipe

Chicken braised in fermented soybean paste with gula Melaka — savoury, slightly sweet, deeply aromatic. A 100-year-old family recipe, shared free.

🥘 Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (1.2kg, cut into 10 pieces), 5 shallots (blended), 4 cloves garlic (blended), 3 tbsp taucheo/taucu (not sweet soy), 1.5 tbsp gula Melaka (grated), 300g potatoes (cubed 3cm), 4 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked overnight, quartered), 1 cup water or mushroom soaking liquid, 2 tbsp oil, salt.

👨‍🍳 Steps

1. Step 1: Heat oil in clay pot or heavy pot over medium heat. Fry blended shallots and garlic until golden and fragrant — about 5-7 minutes.
2. Step 2: Add taucheo. Fry 2 minutes until it darkens and raw fermented smell mellows into something savoury.
3. Step 3: Add chicken. Stir to coat in paste. Increase to medium-high. Fry 3-4 min until chicken surface seals.
4. Step 4: Add potatoes, mushrooms, water/mushroom liquid, and gula Melaka. Stir together.
5. Step 5: Bring to boil, reduce to low. Cover and simmer 30-35 minutes, stirring every 8-10 min.
6. Step 6: Uncover, medium heat, cook 5-8 more min until gravy coats back of spoon.
7. Step 7: Taste — adjust salt carefully (taucheo is salty). Should be lightly sweet and deeply savoury. Serve with steamed white rice.

📸 Share your attempt