← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 600 g boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
• ¼ tsp White pepper
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 1 Eggs, beaten
• 80 g potato starch or cornflour
• oil, for deep-frying
• 4 salted duck egg yolks, steamed for 10 min and mashed
• 50 g Butter
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 sprigs Curry leaves, leaves picked
• 2 Bird's eye chilli, finely chopped
• 120 ml Evaporated milk
• 1 tsp Sugar

Method

1. Mix the chicken with the oyster sauce, pepper, salt and beaten egg and leave for 20 min.
2. Toss the chicken in the starch until well coated. Heat 5 cm of oil to 170°C (340°F) and fry in batches for 5–6 min until golden and cooked through. Drain, then fry again for 1 minute at 180°C (350°F) for extra crunch.
3. In a clean wok, melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic, curry leaves and chilli and fry for 1 minute until the leaves crackle.
4. Add the mashed yolks and stir constantly for 1–2 min until they foam up and smell rich; keep the heat low so they do not burn.
5. Pour in the evaporated milk and sugar and stir into a thick, frothy sauce. Taste: it should be salty-sweet and buttery.
6. Tip in the fried chicken and toss quickly until every piece is coated. Serve straight away with rice.

Tips

• Buy raw salted duck eggs, separate the yolks and steam them; cooked yolks mash smoother. Ready-made salted egg yolk powder also works.
• Contains egg, dairy, soy and oysters. The same sauce is fantastic on prawns or fried squid.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

What To Cook Today Nomadette Huang Kitchen