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Chicken Rendang - amazing Malaysian-Indonesian chicken stew with spices and coconut milk. Deeply flavorful. The best rendang recipe ever!
Recently, there was a huge rendang controversy caused by Master Chef UK judges who said that chicken rendang should have crispy skin, which enraged the entire country of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia and the incident turned into a social media warfare.
As a Malaysia food blogger, I wanted to tell you that chicken rendang, or any rendang, for example: beef rendang, lamb rendang should never have crispy skin. And the rendang sauce should be on the skin!
Chicken Rendang Recipe
Here I have just the perfect chicken rendang recipe for you. Rendang originated from Indonesia but they are very popular and well loved by many in Malaysia.
Chicken rendang is slow cooked and stewed in the rendang sauce and my chicken rendang recipe yields flavorful and tender chicken, with complex structure of flavors, with the intense aroma of the exotic spices.
I love making chicken rendang at home, and serve it with nasi lemak. While it takes some time to prep and make the dish, the end result is so rewarding.
When I sink my teeth into the chicken, the taste immediately transports me back to Malaysia, my home country. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Ingredients For Chicken Rendang
- Chicken thighs
- Cardamom pods
- Cinnamon stick
- Coconut milk
- Cooking oil
- Kaffir lime leaves
- Lemongrass
- Toasted grated coconut
- Star anise
- Water
- Cloves
- Sugar
- Salt
Ingredients For Spice Paste
- Dried chilies
- Lemongrass
- Galangal
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Shallots
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: All all the ingredients of the Spice Paste in a food processor. Blend well.
Step 2: Heat the oil in a skillet, add the Spice Paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamom pods and stir-fry them until aromatic. Add the chicken and lemongrass, stir to combine well with the spices.
Step 3: Add the coconut milk, water, and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the chicken is almost cooked.
Step 4: Add the kaffir lime leaves, toasted coconut, stir to blend well with the chicken. Lower the heat to low, cover the lid, and slowly simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the liquid has dried up. Add more sugar and salt to taste to taste. Serve immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 383 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
- Beef Rendang
- Lamb Rendang
- Malaysian Chicken Curry
- Squid Curry
- Ayam Masak Merah (Chicken in Spicy Tomato Sauce)
Chicken Rendang
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless and skinless chicken breasts , or thighs, cut into cubes
- 1/3 cup cooking oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 3 star anise
- 3 cardamom pods
- 1 lemongrass, white part only, pounded and cut into strips
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 5 kaffir lime leaves, bruised
- 5 tablespoons toasted grated coconut, kerisik
- 1 tablespoon sugar , or to taste
- salt , to taste
Spice Paste:
- 6 shallots
- 1 inch galangal
- 3 stalks lemongrass, white part only
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1- inch piece ginger, peeled
- 10 dried chilies, (chili arbol), seeded
Instructions
- All all the ingredients of the Spice Paste in a food processor. Blend well.
- Heat the oil in a skillet, add the Spice Paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamom pods and stir-fry them until aromatic. Add the chicken and lemongrass, stir to combine well with the spices.
- Add the coconut milk, water, and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the chicken is almost cooked.
- Add the kaffir lime leaves, toasted coconut, stir to blend well with the chicken. Lower the heat to low, cover the lid, and slowly simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the liquid has dried up. Add more sugar and salt to taste to taste. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Check out my recipe to make beef rendang
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious! I did not have galangal nor shallots. I used extra ginger and red onion instead and it tasted pretty authentic.
Thanks Abbie for trying my recipe! :)
Flavours were good, but as a few comments have said, far, far too watery.
To get the red colour you’ve said to cook the paste for longer, maybe update the recipe so you don’t find that out far too late?
Also, don’t try telling me “my chicken had too much water”. The amount of excessive liquid was ridiculous, are you sure you have the right quantities in the recipe?
I have made this delicious recipe many time. I suggest that you halve the water, and when the chicken is cooked, remove it and then simmer the sauce down. It works for me!
Fabulous recipe! – had all ingredients except arbol chilies, so I substituted 4 Thai bird chilies and three Szechuan chilies. Heat was about right ( maybe a little hot) and great complex layers of flavors. Used only 3/4 C water and still was too watery and had to cook it down a lot.
– But… where do you get that red deep color from? – even 10 arbols wouldn’t do that with all the coconut cream and other ingredients.
The spice paste and other ingredients in the skillet make this carmalized look and deep color. Let chicken sit for a little before turning/stiring.
I always failed cooking chicken rendang cuz my chicken always broken into small pieces. I’m using chicken thigh and breast. Especially the breast it’s all like shredded chicken. Please advise on what went wrongly.
Try slightly larger cut pieces and make sure the chicken is cooked well before simmering.