Ayam cincalok is an old, forgotten recipe from the Eurasian and Nyonya communities in Singapore and Malaysia. It’s salty and brimming with the fresh, citrusy flavours of lemongrass.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
What’s in a Name?
Let’s take a look at the name as usual, shall we?
- ayam = chicken
- cincalok = local fermented shrimp product
Ayam cincalok = a stir-fried chicken flavoured with aromatics and fermented shrimps. You can make it as spicy or as mild as you want it to be.
What is Cincalok?
Cincalok is fermented shrimp that owes its origin to the Eurasian community in Malacca. It is extremely salty and is used both as a condiment, as well as an ingredient, as we are doing today.
Pronounced chin – cha – loke, it is an ingredient that is synonymous with the Eurasians and Nyonyas. You can read more about these ethnic groups over on the Singaporean and Malaysian Recipes page.
Essentially, tiny shrimps are fermented in water, with a whole lot of salt and often, but not always, a little rice. Like all fermented foods, it is pungent and in this instance, screams of the flavours of the sea and a whole lot of umami.
Cincalok is very similar to the Korean Sauo-jeot, and to some extent, the Filipino Bagoong Alamang. Korean fermented shrimp is especially a good substitute, and should be easily available in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, at East Asian stores and online. If you are in Singapore and Malaysia, just look around, large supermarkets ought to stock cincalok.
Ayam Cincalok Recipe
Once you get hold of cincalok or saeu-jeot, the rest is super easy. It’s like a stir-fry, and doesn’t require too many ingredients. This is what we’ll be doing:
- Chop up the aromatics.
- Cut up the chicken to large bite-sized pieces.
- Fry the aromatics.
- Add the cincalok and chicken and cook until done.
- Finish off the ayam cincalok with lime juice.
Sounds easy, right?
Use boneless chicken in this recipe, as we are going for a quick fry. I’m using boneless chicken thighs, but you can use chicken breasts, if you prefer.
How to Serve Ayam Cincalok?
There is nothing subtle about the flavour of ayam cincalok. It’s salty, tangy and citrusy from the 2 stalks of lemongrass we are using. As such, it is more than capable of carrying off a meal on its own. All you need is a side salad to make it a complete meal. I’m quite happy with just cucumbers and tomatoes to complement it.
However, you can also serve it as part of a South East Asian or East Asian meal. You could have it with a fried egg on the side and a vegetable dish. Or it can even be an accompaniment to a noodle based meal. Here are some recipes from this site that will go very well with ayam cincalok.
And that’s all there is to today’s recipe. It’s one of my favourite easy recipes to make as a midweek meal. And because I’m the only non vegetarian in the house, it lasts me for dinner the next day too. Bonus!
To keep it overnight, just cover and keep it in the fridge. The next day, just heat it up on the stove or in the microwave oven, with about 1 Tbsp of water added to it.
And now, shall we get cooking?
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And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Ayam Cincalok (Chicken with Fermented Shrimps)
Equipment
- knife
- chopping board
- tablespoon
- spatula
Ingredients
Aromatics
- 1 medium onion (about 120 g pre peeled weight)
- 2 medium cloves garlic
- 2 red chillies
- 1 stalk lemongrass
Everything Else
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 500 g skinless chicken thighs (chicken breasts will work too)
- 2 Tbsp cincalok
- 60 ml water
- ½ tsp white sugar
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (half a regular lime)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 stalk spring onion (cilantro)
Instructions
Prep Work
- Quarter the onion, and place in the chopper. Peel and drop the garlic in. Chop the chillies up in two and add to the chopper.
- Top and tail both lemongrass stalks. Slice on into rings and add to the chopper. Bruise the other one. (Using the back of a knife, pound down hard on the base of the lemongrass).You can read more about how to use lemongrass here.
- Chop everything up into a semi coarse state.
- Slice the spring onions into short lengths (see image) and set aside for garnishing when the chicken is cooked.
- Chop up the chicken thighs into large bite-sized pieces (about 5cm/2 inches wide).
Let's get Cooking
- Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan, over medium heat. Fry the chopped ingredients up (onions, garlic, chillies and lemongrass) for 1 minute. The chillies might make you cough, so turn the extractor hob on high.
- Add the cincalok, stir well, then add the chicken thighs. Fry for 1 minute, stirring frequently, to allow the chicken meat to absorb the flavours.
- Pour in the water alongside the pan, not over the chicken, and stir well. Add the sugar, stir, and leave to cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until the chicken is done.
- Stir in the lime juice and finish off with some freshly ground black pepper. Take it off the heat, scatter the spring onions all over and serve immediately.Can be made a day early and stored in the fridge. Reheat gently the next day before serving.
This was very interesting, Hubs and I really enjoyed it, we used the Korean one you suggested. Thanks.
Pleased to hear that, Sally.
Absolutely delicious! I remember gran used to make it when I was a kid in Malacca. Thank you for this long forgotten Eurasian recipe.
It’s my pleasure, Adam. I’m pleased that you enjoyed it.
Thanks Azlin, I love these old recipes you publish. I had some cincalok so knocked it up for lunch – delicious!
Oh wow, that was fast! I’m, really pleased to hear that, Nona!