Merica Chicken

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I LOVE white pepper. The smell of white pepper is something that will not fail to make me want something to eat. Especially cucur ayam. So when I came across this recipe in Aunidayini's blog, well, I just *had* to try it. No question.

Merica, apparently, means white pepper in Indonesian. (When I told Hadi and Justin this, they cracked lame jokes about how they thought Merica is Indonesian for America -_-) Anyway, this dish is a slight adaptation from Aunidayini's recipe, but white pepper still plays a huge part in flavouring the chicken, and like hers, nicely complemented by oyster sauce and turmeric. So... here we go!

What you need:
3 chicken thighs

Marinade:
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chicken stock
1 teaspoon white pepper
3 tablespoons white vinegar

Gravy:
(We ran out of shallots, so I used 1 onion instead. Otherwise, use 1/2 onion and 4 shallots)
1 onion, sliced finely
4 tablespoons oyster sauce with 2 tablespoons water
1 heaped teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

1 tablespoon of oil, plus more for frying
1 tablespoon sesame oil

What you do:

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together and rub all over the chicken. Leave to marinate at least 15 minutes, or overnight (as I did).
2. Preheat an oven to 180 C, and place the chicken on a shallow baking dish. Mix 1 tablespoon of oil with the sesame oil, and rub all over the chicken. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the chicken is done.
3. Meanwhile, fry the onion (and shallots, if using) in oil heated in a wok. Once soft and translucent, add in the rest of the gravy ingredients, as well as any remaining marinade and juices from the chicken (once cooked). Simmer until the gravy is thick (I used a thickener, heh - arrowroot mixed with some water).
4. Adjust seasoning and pour over cooked chicken.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, arrowroot is a thickener (similar to cornflour). I recently obtained it and was eager to test it, hehe. True enough, one teaspoon was able to thicken the whole sauce really well. And I added a LOT of water - much more than the two tablespoons in the recipe, as the taste was a bit too strong. Probably because I underestimated the size of a dessert spoon, but oh well, no harm done.

The chicken really absorbed the marinade very well, and was nice and flavoursome too. The fact that there was no turmeric in the gravy gave a nice contrast of tastes, I thought. Hadi felt that there should have been some turmeric in the gravy as well, but Justin and I don't agree, heh. I like the taste of turmeric, hehe. Its subtle, yet so good! My chicken looks a bit yellower than Aunidayini's, but that is probably because I went overboard with the turmeric, hehe.

Although the amount of pepper had me spluttering with every bite (earlier on), Hadi and Justin complained that they could barely taste it. Hadi ate it with some chilli sauce, but then said that it doesn't go all that well with it. Justin suggested something that is just spicy, with no other flavour (as in, not sweet, not sour, just spicy). Since we have no idea what would be a reasonable addition (he suggested jalapeños), I suggested just adding a whole load more pepper. At which point, Hadi pointed out that white pepper and oyster sauce combo is a dish I always make. Um, excuse me? I do tend to use a lot of white pepper, but barely use any oyster sauce. They're the ones who use it, not me. :P So yeah... more white pepper, maybe, hehe. Although it was more than spicy enough for me...

Also, it was a *bit* too salty, heh. I must've gone overboard with the oyster sauce, as well. There was very little left in the bottle, so I decided to just rinse the whole thing out with hot water. Looks like there was more than I thought. But, on the whole, I loved this dish! The turmeric and white pepper gives a combination that I really really like. Thanks Aunidayini for the recipe! :D

On a side note, someone made a search for "hadi justin food for thought" to reach this blog today. I realise that I do mention their names a lot more than mine, but it depresses me to think that someone out there actually remembered THEIR names (minor sidekicks that they are) instead of mine. :P Of course, the two of them are impressed that they "left their mark" on the Bruneian blogging scene. Um, right. But anyway, for future reference, this is IHSAN's Food for Thought. Hehe :D Just thought I'd give everyone a reminder~ ;) Have a good day!

Quote of the day: There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable, and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it. How strange it is. It is like paying out your whole fortune for a cow that has gone dry.