Away & Back - Ayam Sioh (Chicken with Tamarind & Coriander Seeds)

I'm back from Prague!! Will be uploading some beautiful pictures of Prague and the delicious food we had, so stay tuned!

For now, a delicious Nyonya dish -ayam sioh. Nyonya food is another type of cuisine you should look out for if you are visiting Malaysia. You can learn more about Nyonya cuisine here. This recipe caught my eye because it uses tamarind (another way to use up the bottle that I bought a few months ago, yay!), lots of coriander seeds (must be very flavourful) and caramel sauce (I have a thing for dishes that have a dark-coloured appearance i.e. coke chicken, ribs..yum yum...). I've never had ayam sioh so I'm not sure how it's supposed to taste like. I added more tamarind and sugar to suit my taste and all in all, it's very appetising and tasty - a perfect dish to go with plain rice.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Foodies' Kitchen Recipe

• 250g shallots - thinly sliced

A:

• 1.5kg chicken - chopped
• 2 tbs Cheong Chan thick dark soy sauce (Thick Caramel Sauce)
• 2 tbs fermented soya bean paste (Taucu)
• 3 tbs ground coriander seeds
• 1/3 cup + 2 tbs tamarind concentrate
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbs agave nectar (or sugar to taste)

Directions:

• Mix together all ingredients "A" and leave to marinade overnight.
• The next day, heat up a little bit of oil in a pot.
• Add shallots and saute until soft.
• Pour in marinated "A".
• Bring to boil then lower heat to simmer until chicken is tender and sauce is thick.
• Add sugar and salt to taste if necessary.