Before I start saying anything, I just need to let this be known to all; ayam penyet is seriously a genius creation. Yes. There I have said it. You may be thinking why, of all the wonderful dishes that we have here in Malaysia, I, a lowly writer, have decided to take the leap and pronounce ayam penyet as genius?
There are two reasons behind my claim. First of all, who doesn’t love crispy skin fried chicken with a crunch that can be heard miles away and copious amounts of flaming sambal? Never mind that you will probably regret consuming the spicy stuff after a few hours. Secondly, well, actually there are more than two reasons. Let’s make that five reasons instead.
1. Crispy Chicken
There’s just something about a perfectly fried chicken. The moist flesh underneath the skin that is fried just enough that you can peel it off cleanly without it breaking into pieces.
Another x-factor that puts the ayam penyet fried chicken in the top tier of best fried chickens ever are the extra crumbs! It is so satisfyingly good that you don’t need to make an ASMR video to hear the ‘krup krap’ of it.
2. Sambal
I know that different ayam penyet restaurants have their own sambal recipe. They may all taste different but all of them have one thing in common. The flaming heat!
Without the fiery sambal, the ayam penyet dish would be just ‘meh’. Malaysians love their spicy food. The more tears, sweat and snot that are produced, is really just a measure of how tastiness of the ayam penyet. You know what I’m talking about.
Like it or not, we love torturing ourselves, time after time. Somehow, the sambal just gives us the needed kick, right?
3. Fried Tempe
We’re on the third item in the list and I’m just getting started. I always find the fried tempe (tempeh or however you spell it) part of the dish to be a hit or miss for me. This simple side dish can either be a bomb of wonderful flavours or just a mushy side that you take a bite, spit it out and banish to some far corner ala Mr. Bean with his beef tartar.
So, how should a perfect fried tempeh taste like? There should be a slight crunch on the surface that you can feel breaking away smoothly upon contact with your teeth followed by a soft, melting inner part that is rich and creamy with a touch of saltiness. Ooh, I want some fried tempeh now!
4. Fried Tofu
For some people, the sides of fried tofu and tempeh are just decoration because they don’t even touch these two things at all. Please do give these a chance. They balance out the strong flavours of the chicken and sambal. To top it all off, sometimes, they come in handy especially when the sambal is more than you can handle and you have run out of drinks, ice and tissues but nothing can stop the sambal from making you cry. These two sides will help you to cool down in ways unimaginable. Trust the person who learned this the bad way. Please. Don’t. Waste. The. Tofu. And. Fried. Tempe.
5. Side Vegetables
Just like the fried tofu and tempe (tempeh), the side vegetables that accompanies your ayam penyet dish helps to cool down your body after eating mouthfuls of the sambal. Most of the ayam penyet dishes comes with a mountain of shredded cabbage but at the more ‘high-end’ restaurants, you’ll get some blanched kangkung or long beans or even better, some crispy vegetable keropok.
Where Can I Get My Ayam Penyet Fix?
No need to whip out your phone and start googling the best ayam penyet places because I got you covered. Just click on the link below:
https://www.butterkicap.com/food-journeys/9-lokasi-kedai-ayam-penyet-kaw.
You’re welcome.
If you feel a little lazy and find that going out is going to be awful for you, don’t worry! You can order online ayam penyet for a Food Panda delivery in the quickest time. Just go on you Food Panda App and you are ready to enjoy ayam penyet delivery via your mobile app. They’ll deliver it to your home, office or anywhere you like.
