How to make Ayam Percik, an easy oven-baked version of the Malaysian grilled coconut spiced chicken.

Ayam Percik is a Malaysian grilled chicken that is a staple in Singapore’s Ramadan Bazaar when it rolls around every year.

This is a large piece of marinated chicken skewered between bamboo sticks, and dipped in a thick spicy coconut cream while it’s grilling, until cooked to charred perfection. It is the one dish that I look forward to messily chomp on whenever I visited the bazaar.

I’ve not had it in a while – a couple of years at least, no thanks to the pandemic – so the craving was hitting me hard right now. I did not think it would come out this good, and I am more than satisfied!

At the initial roast and sauce-making, I was sceptical. And then I slathered my baked chicken with the sauce, popped it back into the oven and voila – all of the familiar Ayam Percik spice aromas wafted through my kitchen!

My version is not as sweet as the night market/pasar malam version, and it is most certainly more spicy. Simply adjust the amount of dried chilli paste and sugar added according to your preference.

What Type of Chicken to Use for Ayam Percik?

I used chicken maryland pieces, which are thighs with the legs attached. This part of the chicken is fatty, and therefore so much more forgiving when roasting. If you are using chicken breasts, please take note of the cooking time because you do not want to dry out your chicken.

My chicken pieces were quite thick, so I like to score the top so that the marinade can absorb better and so it can roast more evenly. With a knife, create 2 to 3 slits on top of the chicken.

Key Ingredient: Dried Chilli Paste

I used dried chilli paste in this recipe, and it is an ingredient that cannot be left out in Ayam Percik. In this recipe, I added 4 tablespoons of it: 1 tablespoon for each chicken piece. We love spice in this house! If you don’t want it as spicy, add just 1 to 2 tablespoons to the spice paste.

There are ready-made versions of dried chilli paste easily available in Singapore and Malaysia. If you cannot find it, I highly recommend that you give making it from scratch a shot! It is easy, requires few ingredients and keeps in the fridge for long! Refer to my easy recipe post right here.

Alternative to Dried Chilli Paste: Sambal Oelek

If you don’t want to make dried chilli paste, you can use sambal oelek. Sambal oelek is ready-to-eat hot chili paste that is more chunky and thick, versus a liquid sauce like Sriracha. It’s also made out of chilli peppers, but typically fresh ones. You can find this easily at Asian grocers as well as most mainstream supermarkets.

Sambal oelek is the common name, but it can also be referred to as just ‘sambal’, ‘sambal paste’, ‘sambal belacan’ – they’re all ground chilli paste but each with its own concoctions and brand recipes. Some Sambal Oelek has vinegar in it, do note this will affect the flavour of your Ayam Percik.

Unlike the dried chilli paste, sambal oelek is usually already cooked, so all you do is stir it into the percik sauce at the end.

For this Ayam Percik recipe, stir fry the base paste well first, before adding the sambal oelek. You want to stir fry it until most of the liquid is dried, this is essential if you’re using candlenuts. This might take 10 to 15 minutes.

Candlenuts need to be cooked through or else you will get a tummy ache – true personal experience. If using hazelnuts or cashew nuts, you can add sambal oelek once the fragrance lifts.

The percik sauce is not just for seasoning the chicken. If you’re having this with rice, you can use the leftover sauce as extra sauce for the rice!

Oven Roasting Time for the Ayam Percik

I roasted mine in a preheated oven of 180 degrees celsius, for 30 to 35 minutes. After slathering on the percik sauce, I broiled it on a higher heat of 200 degrees celcius for about 15 minutes, or until I’m happy with the charring.

This total cook time of 50 minutes cooked my chicken perfectly, but if you want to make sure, use a meat thermometer and ensure the meatiest part of the chicken hits 165 degrees celcius. OR you can poke a fork through at the thickest portion. If no blood runs out, and juices run clear, you’re good to go.

You don’t have to broil if you don’t want to, or don’t have that function. You can simply continue roasting in the oven after coating with the percik sauce.

Can I grill this Ayam Percik?

Of course you can grill this on a barbecue too!

It requires a bit more skill with handling the chicken so you want to use your BBQ instincts for this. Grill the chicken until almost cooked, and then slather on the percik sauce at the last 10 minutes or so.

If you want an even more foolproof method, cheat by oven baking the chicken first! Let it almost cook in a preheated oven of 180 degrees celsius, for 30 to 35 minutes. Before grilling, coat the chicken with the percik sauce and grill to fully cook the chicken.

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Oven roasted Ayam Percik | FAILPROOF! Malaysian grilled coconut spiced chicken

Recipe by Sha

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Uncategorized

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

1.2 kg or 4 Chicken Thighs and Drumstick pieces
Chicken Marinade, blend:
100g or 1 Onion (or about 5 shallots)
20g or 4-5 Garlic cloves
20g or 1 inch Ginger
2 tsps Salt
2 tsps Sugar
3g or 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
2g or 1 tsp Coriander Seeds
2g or 1 tsp Fennel
Percik Sauce
200ml Coconut Cream
2 tbsps of Dried Chilli Paste (adjust according to spice tolerance)
1 tsp Tamarind Paste or Juice from 1 tbsp Tamarind pulp
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tsp Salt, or to taste
Percik Sauce base paste, to blend:
100g or 1 Onion (or about 5 shallots)
20g or 4-5 Garlic cloves
20g or 1 inch Ginger
3 stalks Lemongrass, inner white core
6 Candlenuts (or hazelnuts/cashew nuts)

Directions

Blend base paste for marinade, and massage onto chicken.
Marinade for minimum one hour. Overnight for best results.
Blend the base paste for Percik Sauce.
Saute base paste in oil, and once fragrant, add dried chilli paste. Stir fry over low heat until the paste is drier and turns a darker hue, or when oil breaks – that’s when the oil has turned red. Some oil might float on top of the sauce.
Add tamarind, sugar, salt and the coconut cream.
Stir until well incorporated. Sauce is done once it bubbles.
Lay chicken in a pan, and roast in a preheated oven of 180 degrees celcius/390 degrees fahrenheit for 30 to 35 minutes.
At the 30 to 35 minute mark, take out chicken. Dip/slather chicken in Percik Sauce.
Set oven to broil and roast chicken for another 15 minutes, or until happy with the charring. The paste will turn a deeper, golden hue.

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