Ayam Goreng Mentega

Before you start

• Neutralize the raw poultry smell with an acidic marinade.

  In Indonesian kitchens, neutralizing raw poultry funk is treated as religion. Massage the chicken chunks with the fresh lime juice, grated garlic, light soy sauce, and white pepper until the liquid is entirely absorbed into the meat.

• Create a protective velvet crust using cornstarch.

  Sprinkle the cornstarch over the wet chicken and toss until thoroughly coated in a sticky paste. Do not add water; the natural moisture of the chicken will hydrate the starch. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Ingredients

• boneless skinless chicken thighs1 1/2 lb
• fresh lime juice1 tbsp
• garlic2 small clove
• light soy sauce1 tbsp
• ground white pepper1/2 tsp
• cornstarch3 tbsp
• neutral cooking oil2 tbsp
• salted butter4 tbsp
• yellow onion1/2 large
• garlic3 small clove
• Worcestershire sauce4 tbsp
• sweet soy sauce3 tbsp
• oyster sauce1 tbsp
• ketchup1 tbsp
• sugar1 tsp
• water1/4 cup
• scallions2 med
• lime1 med

Method

1. 01

   Rapidly pan-fry the chicken until golden but not fully cooked.

   Heat the neutral oil in a large wok or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Fry the chicken in a single layer until a golden crust forms on the bottom, about 3 minutes, then flip and fry for another 2 minutes.

2. 02

   Remove the chicken to rest, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.

   When the chicken is about 90 percent cooked through, pull it out with a slotted spoon and rest it on a paper towel-lined plate. Keep all that glorious rendered chicken fat right where it is.

3. 03

   Sweat the aromatics in a generous, foaming knob of butter.

   Drop the heat to medium. Toss the butter into the hot chicken fat, and once it foams and smells nutty, add the sliced yellow onion and chopped garlic. Sauté for exactly two minutes until they soften but retain a vital crunch.

4. 04

   Build the sauce by caramelizing the sweet soy and Worcestershire directly in the pan.

   Dump the Worcestershire, sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, and sugar straight into the buttery onions. Stir vigorously as the sweet soy hits the hot pan and caramelizes into a dark, bubbling mahogany glaze.

5. 05

   Pour in the water to stabilize the emulsion.

   Immediately add the water to thin the sauce slightly and prevent the sugars from burning. Let the whole mixture bubble and reduce for 60 seconds.

6. 06

   Toss the chicken in the bubbling glaze until the sauce clings to the meat.

   Throw the chicken and its resting juices back into the wok. Toss continuously for a minute or two. The cornstarch crust will act like a sponge, absorbing the butter and soy while thickening the remaining liquid into a sticky lacquer.

7. 07

   Finish with fresh scallions and a heavy squeeze of lime.

   Kill the flame. Toss in the scallions to wilt in the residual heat, squeeze the juice of half a lime over the entire pan, and serve screaming hot with an irresponsible amount of white rice.

Notes

• Do not crowd the pan.

  If you dump all the chicken into a small skillet at once, it will steam into sad, grey rubber that repels sauce. Fry in batches if you have to.

• Watch the sugar content.

  Indonesian sweet soy sauce is packed with palm sugar and burns considerably faster than Western table sugar. Drop the heat to medium before adding the sauces, and use that splash of water as a thermal buffer to prevent a scorched mess.

• Fixing a broken sauce.

  If the butter separates and leaves a greasy oil slick, don't panic. The cornstarch on the chicken will help bind it when reintroduced, but if it remains broken, add a tablespoon of water and boil it hard for ten seconds to force the emulsion back together.