Try this Malaysian Malay-Style Chicken Rice (Nasi Ayam) for a delicious and comforting meal. Flavorful rice, delectable baked chicken, aromatic soup and tasty side sauces.
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Welcome back to another instalment of my Ramadan Series! Can you believe that we’re already on Day 6? Oh how time flies. Today I’m sharing a dish that reminds me of home, and is one of my ultimate comfort foods — Malay-Style Chicken Rice.
It’s one of those dishes that I never eat in restaurants or get takeout because it just couldn’t compare to my mom’s. She would always make this during days when she’d like to commemorate something, like the first day of school or during Ramadan. And it’s always a nice surprise.
This particular recipe is actually one that’s based off my mom’s, but with some slight tweaks that I found works for me.
And though this dish might not be as well known as Hainanese Chicken Rice in other parts of the world, it’s definitely equally as popular in Malaysia.
Malay-Style Chicken Rice
This chicken rice, known as nasi ayam in Malay, has a few main components to the dish: flavorful rice, baked chicken, aromatic soup and side sauces. Please don’t be intimidated by the amount of ingredients that are needed. You’ll notice that a lot of the same ingredients are used for the different components. So once you’ve got them all prepped before cooking, you’re ready to go. (You’ve got this!)
For this Malay-style, the recipe uses less ginger and garlic as compared to Hainanese chicken rice. And the chicken is normally fried (or baked in my case) rather than being poached.
But either way, once you eat it while it’s served hot, you’ll be on cloud nine.
More Rice Recipes
- The Best Garlic Fried Rice
- Chicken Katsudon (Chicken Cutlet Rice Bowl)
- Egg Fried Rice
- Tom Yum Fried Rice
- Easy Mushroom Congee/Rice Porridge
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Malaysian Malay-Style Chicken Rice (Nasi Ayam)
Ingredients
Baked Chicken
- 8 chicken thighs
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Sriracha
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 handful cilantro roughly minced
- 3 cloves garlic
Rice
- 3 cups uncooked rice rinsed
- 4 slices ginger
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 4 cardamom
- 1.5 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp butter
Soup
- 2 shallots sliced
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 inch ginger sliced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 4 cardamom
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1.5 cups water
Spicy Sauce
- 4 tbsp chili garlic sauce
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
Soy Sauce Drizzle
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 cup soup
Other Ingredients
- Cucumber sliced
- Tomato sliced
Instructions
Baked Chicken
- Marinate chicken with seasonings listed for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven at 400 F.
- Bake chicken covered for at least 30 minutes and then another 25 minutes uncovered.
- Pour/brush on the chicken drippings all over the chicken.
Rice
- Prepare uncooked rice like how you would normally to cook it (rinse, add water to 1:1 ratio of rice).
- Add all the other ingredients listed, stir and let it cook.
Soup
- Sauté aromatics and seasonings in a bit of oil over medium heat until fragrant.
- Pour in chicken stock, water, add seasoning and stir.
- Bring to a boil then turn off heat and add cilantro.
Spicy Sauce
- Add all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve with everything else.
Soy Sauce Drizzle
- Add all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve with everything else.
Serving
- Serve everything at once while hot. Enjoy!
Tried it with chili sauce packets since I didn’t want to buy sriracha just for one recipe. Loved it 🙂