Indonesian chicken rice soaked in irresistible sambal sauce is 'quite rare' in Vietnam

Chicken is spread with special sambal sauce – Photo: DANG KHUONG

Near the Dien Bien Phu roundabout (HCMC) is always bustling with people passing by, few people notice a restaurant nestled quietly among the rows of houses.

That is Ayam Penyet Vindo , a restaurant specializing in Indonesian chicken rice specialties, opened by Mr. Lizam (Malaysian) and Mr. Ricoh (Indonesian).

The restaurant is not too crowded, perhaps because this is a foreign specialty, so it is picky about who eats it. But the staff always serve customers attentively, especially being able to communicate in both English and Vietnamese.

Indonesian Chicken Rice from Friends Meals

Initially, Lizam and Ricoh worked at the same company in Malaysia, then became friends. After that, both of them came to Vietnam to do business.

Chicken rice dish from the meals of two boys away from home – Photo: DANG KHUONG

Here, two people from far away are colleagues, friends, and even live together.

The two men sometimes gather acquaintances to cook together. Among them, ayam penyet is almost indispensable, because this is an extremely popular dish in Indonesia.

From those meals, Ricoh and Lizam came up with the idea of ​​bringing their hometown chicken rice to Vietnam.

When chef Ricoh served hot plates of Indonesian-flavored chicken rice, the dish successfully made a good impression on Lizam and her other friends. From then on, the reputation of ayam penyet spread more and more widely in Vietnam.

Explaining the name of the dish, Ayam means chicken, and penyet means pound.

“The reason for this name is because in our country, it is very common to pound the chicken while cooking,” said Hamdan Ramdani, the restaurant’s Indonesian chef.

Hamdan Ramdani said that pounding like this will reduce the amount of moisture in the chicken, so the sauce spread on the meat will penetrate deeper and be more flavorful.

Although named after the way it is prepared, when it comes to Vietnam, ayam penyet is welcomed by the people here with a very "Vietnamized" name: Indonesian chicken rice.

When asked what is the strength of Indonesian chicken rice to survive in a place with so many versions of chicken rice, chef Hamdan Ramdani shared: “I tried chicken rice in Vietnam, this dish is very special. But I did not find the same chicken flavor and sauce as Indonesia here.”

'Hard to find in Vietnam'

On the surface, Indonesian chicken rice is not too different from Vietnamese chicken rice. But only when experiencing it, diners will realize that the taste of the dish has no similarity to Vietnamese taste.

Indonesian chicken rice served with sausage, fried tofu... different from Vietnamese chicken rice - Photo: DANG KHUONG

The chicken rice dish at the restaurant includes rice, quartered chicken thighs, fried tofu, vegetables... The most special is sambal sauce, a typical sauce in Indonesia.

The restaurant's chicken is very soft but firm, not mushy. From the first slices, diners immediately think of a home-cooked meal, because the chicken has the fragrant smell of grilled chicken, without too many spices.

Unlike chicken rice in Vietnam, chicken in Vietnamese restaurants is often marinated with sweeteners, sometimes with limited sugar, and served with fish sauce or chili sauce.

The meat is so fragrant, perhaps thanks to the Indonesian pounding of the meat during preparation.

In addition, sambal sauce also contributes to creating this “unseen in Vietnam” rice dish. The sauce is made from many different types of chili and other ingredients such as garlic, ginger, green onions… Therefore, the characteristic of this dipping sauce is… very spicy.

Spicy sambal sauce is a signature of Indonesian cuisine – Photo: DANG KHUONG

Mr. Hamdan Ramdani said: “When selling in Vietnam, I have adjusted a lot to suit Vietnamese people, because Vietnamese people prefer sweeter flavors.

I reduced the spiciness of this dish by 70%.

Besides the spicy feeling, sambal sauce also makes diners feel strange, because the flavor of the sauce is unlike any other sauce in Vietnam.

In fact, the richness of sambal makes diners think more of Indian cuisine.

For that reason, the restaurant also thoughtfully prepares sweet black soy sauce for customers who are not used to it.

Although the taste is not very "appetizing" to Vietnamese people, in the comments section on google map, most diners left compliments, especially those who love Indonesian food.

“It has been a long time since we have had authentic Indonesian food like when we were in school in 2014”, “The first time we experienced Indonesian cuisine, we were very surprised because the dishes were very delicious”… – customers commented.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/com-ga-indo-dam-nuoc-xot-sambal-ngon-kho-cuong-hoi-bi-hiem-o-viet-nam-20241004010422436.htm