Soto Ayam

Authentic chinese food is always so colourful and looks exotic. My love for this food though goes beyond the colour and how it looks. I am addicted to chinese food! But to tell you the truth, I haven't really experimented much with chinese food in my kitchen because the one or two times I tried, it wasn't very successful :(

This dish though is not an authentic chinese dish, more of a chinese-malay dish, but has it's origin from Malaysia. This was something my mom used to make on a weekend. Weekends were the time when she would always cook something special for us, oh and I must say, she used to cook up a storm. We used to just gobble up all that she made and this was one dish we all loved. My mom grew up in Brunei and spent a lot of wonderful years there as a young girl. She always had such interesting stories to tell us about the Sultan of Brunei, the lovely people and of course most importantly the yummy food! Her descriptions of the food was so mouth watering! She would talk about the umpteen number of small open air food stalls which would serve food ranging from hot soups with wantons to delicious spicy noodles and different varieties of rice. Food in Brunei has got a lot of influence from Malaysia because the Malay population constitutes a large part of the population there. (atleast at the time when my mum was there) So this dish is a re-creation of the Soto Ayam my mom used to enjoy at the busy open air food stalls there with a few changes here and there! In a nutshell, her version of Soto Ayam. And she definitely nailed it, I must tell you.

This dish is usually served with a simple chicken soup, white rice (basmati rice) and crispy chicken (batter fried chicken). The chicken soup is poured into the rice with a dash of soy sauce and eaten with the rest of the accompaniments and this is a complete balanced meal.

Light and full of flavour, this dish is an absolute hit. I know you only have my word to go by but try it for sure, you will not be disappointed.

Ingredients

Chicken (cooked & shredded) - 250 gms

Chicken stock - 3 to 4 tbsp

Dry red chillies - 4 to 5

Garlic - 5 to 6 cloves

Shallots - 5 to 6

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece

Pepper - as per spice tolerance

Salt - to taste

Ajinomoto - a pinch

Spring Onion - small bunch

Method

Pound garlic, ginger, shallots and dry red chillies and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok and add dry red chillies, garlic, ginger, shallots and turmeric. Saut'e until onions turn light brown. Add the cooked chicken along with pepper and salt and saut'e for a few minutes. At this stage, add the chicken stock and cook on a low flame for a few minutes. Finally, add a pinch of ajinomoto and spring onions and toss for a few more minutes and switch off the flame.

Serve with basmati rice, chicken soup and crispy chicken.

Notes: Cook the chicken with pepper, salt and a piece of ginger because ginger enhances the flavour of the chicken as well as the stock.

Source: My Mom