Ayam penyet ( Javanese for squeezed fried chicken) is an Indonesian — more precisely
East
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
Javanese cuisine
Javanese cuisine () is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major Native Indonesian, ethnic group in Indonesia in the provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java.
Definition
Javanese cuisine refers exclusively to the cuisine of Javan ...
— fried chicken dish consisting of fried chicken that is squeezed with the pestle against the mortar to make it softer, and is served with
sambal
Sambal is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of chillis with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste (terasi), garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an Indonesia ...
, slices of
cucumber
The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.fried tofu, and
tempeh
Tempe or tempeh (; , ) is a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. A fungus, '' Rhizopus oligosporus'' or '' Rhizopu ...
(mostly cucumber). In Indonesia, ''penyet'' dishes such as fried chicken and ribs are commonly associated with
Surabaya
Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...
, the capital city of
East Java
East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...
. The most popular ayam penyet variant is ayam penyet Suroboyo.
''Ayam penyet'' is known for its spicy sambal, which is made with a mixture of chilli,
anchovies
An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water.
More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
,
tomato
The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
es,
shallot
The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...
s,
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...
,
shrimp paste
Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a Fermentation, fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed Shrimp and prawn as food, shrimp or krill mixed ...
,
tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...
and
lime juice
A lime is a citrus fruit, which is typically round, lime green in colour, in diameter, and contains acidic juice vesicles.
There are several species of citrus trees whose fruits are called limes, including the Key lime (''Citrus aurantiifoli ...
. Like its namesake, the sambal mixture is then smashed into a paste to be eaten with the dish.
Today ayam penyet is commonly found in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Brunei
Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
and
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. It has recently surged in popularity across
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, where various chains of franchises have opened selling the dish along with other Indonesian delicacies.
Name
''Penyet'' is a Javanese term for "squeezed" or "pressed," thus ''ayam penyet'' means "squeezed chicken." It is quite similar to another popular Indonesian fried chicken dish '' ayam geprek'', as both are fried chicken smashed and mixed together with hot and spicy ''
sambal
Sambal is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of chillis with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste (terasi), garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an Indonesia ...
'' chili paste. The difference is ''ayam penyet'' is a traditional Javanese '' ayam goreng'' half-cooked in '' bumbu kuning'' (yellow spice paste) and then deep fried in hot
palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...
. ''Ayam geprek'' however, is more akin to western-style (American)
fried chicken
Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...
, which is crispy fried chicken coated with batter, or known in Indonesia as ''ayam goreng tepung'' (battered fried chicken).
History
The history of Ayam Penyet was originally from Ayam bakar Wong Solo, this menu is present as a variation of the menu at Ayam Bakar Wong Solo. But it became more and more famous when
Surabaya
Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...
people sold this under the name Ayam Penyet Surabaya.
Gallery
File:Ayam penyet SG.jpg
File:NasiTimbelAyamPenyet.JPG
File:Nasi Ayam Penyet 2.jpg
File:Ayam penyet di Bandung.jpg
File:Indomie Mie goreng Penyetan Cok.jpg, With
Indomie
Indomie is an instant noodle brand produced by the Indonesian company Indofood. Indomie has been mentioned as the largest instant noodle manufacturer in the world with 17 factories. Over 19 billion packs of Indomie are produced annually, and ...
File:Ayam penyet keju mozarella.jpg, With
mozzarella
Mozzarella is a Types of cheese#Semi-soft cheese, semi-soft non-aged cheese prepared using the ('stretched-curd') method with origins from southern Italy.
It is prepared with cow's milk or buffalo milk, taking the following names:
* or mozz ...