This full-flavoured Malaysian chicken casserole is a taste of home

In this popular casserole dish from Malaysia, chicken pieces are cooked with lots of aromatics, which impart a beautiful flavour.

Ayam Masak Merah from The Golden Wok by Diana Chan.

Cooking with a wok is a way of life throughout Asia. Many people think a wok is used exclusively for stir-frying, but a wok is the most versatile and inexpensive piece of kitchen equipment you can own. It can be used for shallow and deep-fying, steaming, boiling, braising and smoking. The smell of a wok heating over an open flame always reminds me of home.

In this popular casserole dish from Malaysia, chicken pieces are cooked with lots of aromatics, which impart a beautiful flavour. It is simmered in passata to give it the vibrant red colour.

Try too my other wok dishes: long-life noodles and five-spice tofu.

Ayam Masak Merah is a deeply flavoured wok-made casserole from Malaysia. Photography: Armelle Habib 2024

This is an edited extract from The Golden Wok by Diana Chan (Hardie Grant $50).

Ayam Masak Merah (Malaysian chicken casserole)

Ingredients

• 1 × 1.5kg chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• Salt, to taste
• Neutral-flavoured cooking oil, for frying
• 5g curry leaves
• 100g tamarind pulp
• 150g tomato passata
• 100g chilli sauce
• 40g grated palm sugar
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• Fried shallots, to garnish
• Coriander leaves, to garnish

Spice paste

• 30g piece fresh ginger, sliced
• 150g red Asian shallots, chopped
• 50g garlic
• 60g lemongrass stem, white part only, chopped
• 10g dried red chillies, deseeded, rehydrated in hot water for 15 minutes and drained
• 60g long red chillies, deseeded and chopped

Method

1. To make the spice paste, blitz all the spice paste ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to get it going, if required.
2. Put the chicken in a large bowl. Add the turmeric and season well with salt. Set aside for 10 minutes to marinate.
3. Heat a wok over a medium heat then add the oil. In batches, gently lay the chicken in the hot oil and fry for 10 minutes until cooked through. Remove and drain on paper towels.
4. Leave about 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok and discard the rest. Return the wok to a medium heat and fry the spice paste for 3-5 minutes until fragrant.
5. Add the curry leaves, followed by the tamarind, passata, chilli sauce, palm sugar, oyster sauce and 250ml (1 cup) water. Simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
6. Add the fried chicken and mix to coat the chicken in sauce. Stir for a further 3 minutes then remove from the heat.
7. To serve, transfer the chicken to a serving dish and garnish with some fried shallots and coriander.
8. Serves 6