Many readers asked me for my Ayam Pongteh recipe, or Nyonya chicken and potato stew. Believe it or not, before this post, I have never had ayam pongteh, even though I grew up with my late grandmother, who was a true blue Penang Nyonya.
Much like the Cincaluk Omelet (telur dadar cincaluk) recipe that I shared, Ayam Pongteh is a Malacca (Melaka) Nyonya dish. Made with chicken, potato and flavored with taucheo (fermented soy bean sauce) and gula Melaka (palm sugar), ayam pongteh is a homey and wonderful dish…
I adapted this ayam pongteh recipe from my friend House of Annie, except that I reduced the amount of dark soy sauce because dark soy sauce is mostly used for coloring purposes instead of flavor. Try it out, I am sure you will love this.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 526 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
Nyonya Chicken and Potato Stew (Ayam Pongteh)
Ayam Pongteh (Nyonya Chicken and Potato Stew)
Ingredients
- 2 shallots peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/4 cup taucheo fermented bean sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar chopped
- 1-3 lbs. chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces, about 18 pieces
- 4 small boiling potatoes Yukons or Reds will hold better than Russets, peeled and cut into large pieces
- 3 cups water
- salt to taste
Directions
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1Pound shallots and garlic into a coarse paste. Set aside.
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2
Heat oil over medium heat, add shallots and garlic paste and fry for about 2 minutes, making sure not to burn the paste.
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3
Add tauheo, dark soy sauce, and palm sugar. Stir until palm sugar has dissolved and liquid has thickened, about 30 seconds.
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4
Add chicken and potatoes and the 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
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5
When the water boils, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or until the chicken is tender.
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6
Season with salt and soy sauce to taste. Serve hot with steamed rice.
How many people is this recipe for?
2-3
Tried it last weekend. No shallots so used onions. No palm sugar so used brown sugar. Put everything in to slow cooker after mixing chicken and potato into cooked sauce. This recipe is so good!!!
Yay Lily thanks for trying this ayam pongteh recipe.
My family love this recipe so much.
Due to time constraint, is it Ok to prepare this dish 2 days in advance and freeze it?
Thank you.
Of course, you can.
Malaysian food is the best.
I agree.
Ur using sweet or salted fermented bean paste? There are 2 types of taucheo here
Salted.
any type of fermented soy is okay…the korean or Japanese miso is good to go… just add sugar to your required taste…
Never heard of Palm sugar. Is there a substitute you can suggest? This dish looks really good and would love to try:)
You can add brown sugar, per your taste.
Is the fermented bean sauce the same as Chinese black bean sauce? If so, I don’t have it where I am, any suggestions? I have Korean fermented bean sauce
Suge, no, it’s not the same. It’s yellow bean paste.