Chicken in sweet and sour sauce – Ayam asam manis alla Raja

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 chicken, approx. 1 kg
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, sweet
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 4 medium-sized garlic cloves
• 4 small chili peppers, red
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 ½ liters of frying oil
• 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
• 2 tbsp vinegar, black, Chinese, alternatively balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp tamarind syrup
• 2 g shrimp paste, Asian
• 2 tbsp marinade (see above)
• 120 g guava juice
• 2 medium-sized garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp, leveled tapioca flour
• 2 tbsp rice wine (Arak Masak)
• 6 small onions, red
• 2 peppers, red
• 1 spring onion(s)
• 1 carrot(s), 12 slices
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 4 tbsp mango(s), pieces (see appendix)
• 4 tbsp cucumber(s), chunky, spicy (see appendix)
• 4 bowls of rice (see appendix)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 13 hours

A royal dish served with rice and pickled mango pieces. A recipe from classic Balinese cuisine.

Cut up the chicken and wash the pieces thoroughly, dry them, and remove any fat and skin. For the marinade, wash the chilies, deseed them, and cut them crosswise into thin strips. Trim the ends of the garlic cloves and squeeze the juices. Combine all ingredients in a large enough bowl and rub the garlic cloves thoroughly. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and dry them. Do not discard the marinade. Remove the chili threads from the chicken pieces and set aside. Mix all liquid ingredients for the asam manis sauce, including the guava juice. Dissolve the tapioca flour in the rice wine. Trim both ends of the garlic cloves and press them through a garlic press into the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer and add the tapioca-rice wine mixture in small portions, stirring continuously. The sauce should thicken slightly, but it must remain thin. Stop adding if necessary. Heat the frying oil to 160 degrees Celsius. In the meantime, wash the vegetables and peel them if necessary. Quarter the onions lengthwise. Cut the peppers lengthwise, remove the seeds, and cut them crosswise into strips approximately 1 cm wide. Cut the white to light green, thick-walled parts of the spring onion diagonally into 2 cm long pieces. Cut the green parts into 1 cm long pieces and set aside. Score the carrot lengthwise 6 times around the circumference, about 3 mm deep, then cut them crosswise into 5 mm thick slices (flowers). Prepare the serving plates with the side dishes and garnish. Deep-fry the chicken pieces in batches for about 6 minutes. Note: the temperature can be slightly below, but should not exceed, the desired temperature. Add the fried pieces to the simmering sauce. Heat a wok, add the sunflower oil, and heat until hot. Add the vegetables and mango pieces and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Now add the green spring onion pieces and stir-fry for 15 seconds. Divide the vegetables, chicken pieces, and sauce among serving plates and serve warm. Appendix: Marinating unripe mango into a delicacy, see: https://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/3462131515767114/Nicht-ganz-reife-Mango-zu-einer-Delikatesse-marinieren.html Spicy cucumber pieces à la Hong Kong, see: https://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/3339841496205206/Wuerzige-Gurkenstuecke-la-Hongkong.html Rainbow rice à la Lombok Raja, see: https://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/3439541512362413/Regenbogen-Reis-a-la-Lombok-Raja.html