How to make Ayam Masak Kicap, or Spicy Soy Sauce Chicken Stirfry.
Today we’re making a Spicy Soy Sauce Chicken stirfry, also known as Ayam Masak Kicap Pedas. This is another traditional Malay dish and this is my Mom’s recipe. It’s one of my favourite dishes ever to have over rice.
Key Ingredients for Ayam Masak Kicap
You really need just one key ingredient to make Ayam Masak Kicap. That would be Kicap Manis, or Dark Sweet Soya Sauce! This makes the base flavour of the dish. It adds the perfect combination of salty and sweet, and the dark appetising colour.
Can I use Dark Soy Sauce used in Chinese cooking? Yes! Dark Soy Sauce tends to be less sweet and not as thick as Kicap Manis, however.
Another ingredient for this recipe is the dried chilli paste, which adds the actual spice to the dish. I consider this a must have! It not only adds a lot of delicious roasty spicy flavour, it creates a rich, creamy gravy for the dish. See my recipe here.
What if I do not want it spicy? Make this a non-spicy dish (and a kid’s favourite) by omitting the dried chilli paste! Without the dried chilli paste, this Ayam Masak Kicap will still be delicious. Do note to be more conservative in the amount of water you add to create the sauce, as it will be a more liquid consistency than if you added dried chilli paste.
Dry Whole Spices for Ayam Masak Kicap
The the special ingredients for my Ayam Masak Kicap recipe would be the dry spices.
In this recipe, I used a combination of cinnamon, cloves, star anises and cardamom pods. In Malay cuisine, this combination is also known as ‘4 Kawan’ of ‘4 Friends’ because of how well they work together!
The spice mix is optional though. You can make this dish without the spices but it really levels up this dish. Even if you don’t have all these spices on hand, just adding any one of the spices (like one cinnamon stick, which I would think is a common spice in most households) would really help. Try it!
Can I Make This with Other Proteins?
This is with chicken, but the kicap manis sauce goes amazingly well with the vegetarian option of boiled eggs. The eggs will even develop an attractive dark hue, tinged by the soy sauce.
Vegan? Add potatoes. It’s actually a favourite combo of mine. The boiled potatoes really soak up the sauce like no other.
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Ayam Masak Kicap Pedas | Spicy Soy Sauce Chicken
2
servings10
minutes20
minutesIngredients
300g bone-in Chicken
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Salt
1-2 tbsps of Dried Chili Paste (adjust according to spice tolerance)
1 Onion, chopped
1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tbsps Dark Sweet Soy Sauce or Kicap Manis
1 Cup of Water
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
- Dry Whole Spices
3-4 Cloves
2 Star Anise
1 Cinnamon Stick
2-3 Cardamom
- Garnish
Red Chilli (optional)
Directions
- Marinate the chicken with turmeric powder and salt.
- Pan fry marinated chicken and sear until the surface of the chicken is not pink. There is no need to cook the chicken all the way through.
- Remove chicken from the pan and keep to one side. Turn off the heat. Remove some oil from the same pan if needed, or until there is about 2-3 tbsps of oil left in the pan.
- Turn back the heat to low heat. Over low heat, add the cinnamon, star anise, cloves and cardamom. Stir fry the whole spices until fragrant.
- Once fragrant, add in dried chilli paste, onions and garlic and continuously stir over low heat until the oil breaks. See: How to properly cook dried chilli paste.
- Add back the fried chicken and the dark sweet soy sauce or kicap manis.
- Stir to combine and add water. Add as much water as you’d like sauce.
- Let it boil, and then turn down heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer until the chicken cooks all the way through.
- Season with salt and sugar, to taste. Add a quartered or split red chilli at the end as garnish, and to add colour. Toss through to combine.
- Serve!
Did you make this recipe?
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