Here’s anther Indonesian chicken dish for you to try tonight. There’s no heat in the dish, but I encourage you to serve it with a spicy Indonesian sambal on the side (here I served it with sambal petai, which I purchased at a local Asian food market). What make this dish stand out are the kecap manis (sweet Indonesian soy sauce) and the nutmeg. I think this dish is so interesting — I hope you’ll try it!
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely diced
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 Tbsp kecap manis
1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate
1 cup water
Rub chicken pieces with the salt.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet or Dutch oven (with tight-fitting lid) over high heat. Add the chicken pieces and brown evenly for 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add the onions and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.
Add the nutmeg, kecap manis and tamarind concentrate to the chicken mixture; stir well, reduce heat to low, and simmer about 20 minutes, until almost dry (but not burnt!).
Add the water. Increase heat to high, stirring while bringing mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for another 20 minutes. Remove lid. Increase heat to high. Cook an additional 3 minutes, stirring constantly for an additions 3 minutes, until the sauce has thickened substantially. Serve over steamed coconut jasmine rice, with an Indonesian sambal (sauce) on the side.
Serves 4.
AnotherDish.com 
I was at Amsterdam last week and remembered your post about Rijstaffel and babi kecap. So we went to an Indonesian restaurant to order one, only to found they ran out of babi kecap. Ugh!! Now I really have to make one, haven’t I? This chicken version sounds great too.
Too bad they ran out of babi kecap, but I’m sure there were other delicious dishes that were part of the meal. The place we went to in AMS was called Tempo Doeloe — I remember overeating there, but everything was so good!
You eat petai? I’m impressed!
Even many of my local friends cannot stand its distinguishable aroma! 😀
I’ve only had petai (“stinky bean”) in a fiery sambal, which I like very much. I have a couple of recipes to try out that call for fresh petai beans — we’ll see how they turn out.
Looking forward to see your posts about petai! 🙂
Your food looks really delicious and I love Indonesian food. 🙂
Thanks for the comment — Indonesian is one of my favorite cuisines!