Ayam Buah Keluak

Last night my girlfriend Hazel popped by my place and she bought fried Hokkien prawn noodles and BBQ chicken wings. The two of us enjoyed our dinner and chatted about her new lifestyle without a maid, especially she being a career woman having to hang up the laundry every night while her wonderful children helped out with the household chores. In the midst of our conversation, Hazel surprised me that she loves to eat Ayam Buah Keluak and especially cooked by her mother in law who is a pure Teochew with no Peranakan heritage. I was very astounded by the way she described about how her mother in law prepared the Buah Keluak, having to scrub and then soaked the nut shell for about three days.. and we both laughed over the smelly water. The Buah Keluak paste to be dugged out and mixed together with minced prawns and meat and then stuffed back into the nut shell and to cook with chunky chicken meat. My mum will always cook this dish during Chinese New Year and I love digging the black paste out from the nut shell and licking it... hmmmm. finger licking good! Amboi Sedap Sekali!


Recipe for Ayam Buah Keluak (extracted from Asianonline :

4 Chicken Thighs
10 pieces Buah Keluak
300 g Shrimp Meat
2 tablespoons Tamarind paste, mix with 1 liter water
Salt and sugar to taste

Blend
300 g Shallots
100 g Garlic
3 Candlenuts
2 cm Tumeric
2 slices Galangal
6 stalks Lemon grass (white part)
1 teaspoon Dried shrimp paste(belachan)
20 Dried chillies, soak in hot water and drain

Method :
Cut the chicken into pieces.
Clean the buah keluak and remove kernels with a sharp knife.
Blend kernels with shrimp meat.
Add salt and sugar to taste.
Stuff this filling into the buah keluak shell.
Heat half cup oil in a wok.
Stir fry the blended ingredients until fragrant.
Add chicken and stir fry well.
Add buah keluak, assam paste juice, salt and sugar.
Bring to a boil.
Turn to low heat and simmer for 15 minutes.