Last time we went back, Wan announced on Saturday afternoon that on Sunday we'll be making rendang ayam! The occassion? Who needs a reason to eat rendang ayam? No special occassion. Cucu cicit balik kampung is an occassion. A call for glorious food, everytime.
This time around, i decided to document the whole process in photographs, albeit not thoroughly. Missed the slaughtering part. Actually masa nak sembelih ayam tu, tak terfikir nak ambik gambar lagi. But maybe it's better that i don't kan? Lepas sembelih ayam.. kena process dulu itu ayam. Don't ask me to do it though. Tak pass lagi. Tolong tengok boleh. The cabut bulu ayam part, i can help no problemo.
After dah potong2 itu ayam.. kasik bersih. And now ready untuk di-rendangkan! Penjaga kawah rasmi this time tak lain tak bukan, Shahril la. :) First, kena empukkan ayam2 tu dulu. Just put the chicken and air sikit in the huge kuali aka kawah. Biar sampai almost kering. Actually, kalau Wan buat masak lomak cili api pun, this would be the first step - keringkan ayam tu. Tapi kalau masak lomak, tak yah letak air.. but 'keringkan' ayam tu dgn kunyit & cili api yg dah ditumbuk.
Penjaga api & 'pengacau' kawah yang sangat berdedikasi!
Ayam 'dikering'kanOk back to rendang. Bila air tadi tu mcm dah sikit je tinggal or the chicken is half cooked, masukkan bawang2 segala. That day I was the sole pengupas bawang (very important task, this one), so i know the exact amount used. For 3 ekor ayam that day, Wan used 2 bulbs of garlic, 6 big onions and about an inch of ginger. Everything is sliced finely. so, next step will be, throwing all that into the kuali. Kacau kacau kacau. Not too much of kacau-ing of course. If not, nanti ayam hancur.
Ayam and bawang2.
Next would be the chilli. Lots and lots of blended cili padi with tumeric. Kalau nak tambah blended cili kering pun boleh. Put that into the kuali. And throw about 6 stalks of lemongrass. Wan kata, kalau masak rendang, tak yah 'titik' serai tu pun takpe sebab kalau titik, nanti serai hancur sebab rendang ni masaknya lama. Some people would slice the lemongrass and blend it together with the chilli. Kalau buat mcm tu, nanti rendang tu byk la 'serdak'2 nya. Depends on preference. I love the serdak2..(sedap makan ngan roti) but Jelebu people don't. Hehe..
with chilli, tumeric & lemon grass
Closer look.
After the chilli and the ayam dah sebati.. about 10-15 minutes or so I think, boleh masukkan santan.
With santanBila santan dah masak, masukkan kerisik. Err.. tak tau berapa byk. Hehe.
Ni dah masak, cuma belum 'kering' sgt lagi. Selalunya at this stage, akan ambik semangkuk siap2.. for those yang suka berkuah sikit. The rest, masak sikit lagi sampai kuah2 semua kering.
I like it berkuah2 like this. Ambik roti, cicah.. aiyo!! Out of this world
The end product, more or less. Bila dah masuk pinggan, tak sempat snap gambar dah.
The stylo mylo Director of Rendang and the Kawah Manager. In this case, the kawah had to be abandoned for a few minutes to give way to mesin kelapa. Multitasking is the key! (Wan just had an eye procedure done 2 days prior that requires her to wear sunglasses)
The end product, more or less. Bila dah masuk pinggan, tak sempat snap gambar dah.
The stylo mylo Director of Rendang and the Kawah Manager. In this case, the kawah had to be abandoned for a few minutes to give way to mesin kelapa. Multitasking is the key! (Wan just had an eye procedure done 2 days prior that requires her to wear sunglasses)
Something new I learnt was, kayu api tu pantang larangnya, kena bakar hujung dulu. Tak boleh bakar pangkal dulu. Eh, ke the other way round? Alamak, nanti balik kena tanya lagi sekali which is which. And the reason behind it. Den dah lupo!
