Sunday, October 22, 2006

Mom's Ayam Pongteh

I was missing mom's version of potatoes and chicken called Ayam Pongteh using tau cheo which had soybeans that had been salted and aged or preserved, and usually available in bottles at the asian market. It is salty, and commonly used to add flavor and taste in some chinese and peranakan cooking. Like miso, a little of it goes a long way. I was also trying to use up the bottle I had in the fridge. Since I couldn't get hold of her (it's after midnight in her time zone), I decided to make this dish by memory. Here's what I came up with using the ingredients I had on-hand:

What I used:
8 chicken drumsticks with skin removed
shallots, minced
garlic, minced
1 Tbsp tau cheo, minced
3 yukon potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 yellow pepper, cut into 1/2" squares
2 Tbsp Dark soy sauce
2 C Water
1 C frozen peas, thawed
Salt and white pepper to taste

What I did:
Heat oil in dutch oven. Brown chicken in two batches. Remove. Add shallots and garlic and saute till fragant. Add teo cheo and saute another 2 minutes. Return chicken to dutch oven, add potatoes, yellow pepper, dark soy sauce and water. Cover and simmer till chicken is cooked, about 30 mins. Add peas and cook another 10 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper. Serve with rice and chilli sauce on the side.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks good! You put alot of vegetables uh? I would use more tau cheo though, maybe 2 tablespoons. - san y.

Anonymous said...

Hey your cooking has improved. Good
maybe nxt time we can pair off in a restaurant.