Easy Rendang Chicken Recipe - utilising cooking paste as a marinade

Busy individuals may shy away from cooking Rendang dishes, as it is time-consuming and requires a lot of prep work. Additionally, the aromatic cooking paste calls for a medley of ingredients including ginger, galangal, turmeric leaves, lemongrass, garlic, tamarind, lime leaves, and more -some of which may not be easily available in some regions. Furthermore, it may not be feasible to obtain some of these hardly utilised ingredients.

There are many ready-made cooking pastes available in the market that allow busy individuals to satisfy cravings without arduous efforts and extensive prep time. With simple instructions at the back of the packet, anyone - even those with barely any cooking experience - can cook a Rendang dish easily and efficiently.

What I will be sharing in this post is not simply about cooking using store-bought cooking pastes, but utilising these pastes in a way that stretches its potential. Instead of using 300g of meat that the packet calls for, and throwing all the ingredients including the paste in a pot to cook, I doubled the meat portion, and used the cooking paste as a marinade, allowing the flavours to infuse the meat overnight. To keep the flavours strong, I also made a shallot and chilli paste for sautéing before adding the marinated chicken and coconut milk. The dish takes most of the time on the stove, and requires little prep work. I found that the slower and longer I cook the chicken over low heat, the more flavourful and succulent the result!

Ingredients:

- 1 packet of rendang sauce base (I'm using Way Rendang Sauce)
- 4 pieces of chicken legs, bone-in, each chopped into four parts
- 1 shallot, skinned and chopped
- 2 dried large red chilli, pre-soaked
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbs cooking oil (I’m using rice bran oil. Any neutral tasting oil is fine)
- 80g toasted grated coconut (I’m using baking-quality desiccated coconut)
- 400ml thick coconut milk
- Salt to taste


Method:

1) Marinate chicken in rendang sauce base for at least 3 hours or overnight. I got the butcher to chop the chicken legs for convenience.
2) To make the shallot and chilli paste, simply blend the shallot and pre-soaked chilli in a food processor with half a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and one tablespoon of cooking oil till a paste is formed.
3) Start cooking by frying up the paste in a big non-stick pot with one tablespoon of oil over medium heat until fragrance exudes. Be careful not to burn the paste!
4) Add chicken pieces and stir-fry for a minute before adding the coconut milk. Reduce the heat and let it slow cook over a small flame for 30 minutes or 45 minutes if time allows. A big flame would result in tough meat.
5) While the chicken is cooking, toss grated coconut in a pan over low heat till it turns slightly brown. Keep tossing to prevent burning. This should take less than five minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
6) Add the toasted coconut bits to the pot of chicken just a couple of minutes before turning off the heat, and it is ready to be served with long-grain white rice.