Bubur Ayam Recipe: Indonesian Rice Porridge With Chicken

User Reviews

5.0

21 reviews
Excellent
  • Prep Time

    30 mins

  • Cook Time

    30 mins

  • Total Time

    1 hr 10 mins

  • Servings

    6 portions

  • Calories

    665 kcal

  • Course

    Brunch

  • Cuisine

    Indonesian

Bubur Ayam Recipe: Indonesian Rice Porridge With Chicken

Bubur Ayam is one of the most sought-after street foods and such a comforting food to enjoy for breakfast. The soft rice congee with delicate herb fragrance marries well with flavoursome spiced yellow sauce, soy sauce and chilli sauce.

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Ingredients

Servings

For making congee/ rice porridge:

  • 1 cup rice see the note.
  • 6 cups water.
  • 2 salam leaves see the note.
  • ½ - inch ginger.
  • 1 lemongrass.
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt see the note.

For making congee using leftover rice:

  • 1 ½ cup packed cooked rice.
  • 5 cups water.
  • 2 salam leaves see the note.
  • ½ - inch ginger.
  • 1 lemongrass.
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt see the note.

For the yellow sauce:

  • 1 small onion finely chopped.
  • 4 garlic chopped.
  • ½- inch ginger peeled and chopped.
  • 5 Kemiri/ candlenuts see the note.
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder see the note.
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander.
  • 1 lemongrass.
  • ½ teaspoon salt or according to taste.
  • 1 teaspoon sugar.
  • 1 cup water.

For the garnish:

  • 300 boneless chicken.
  • ½ - inch ginger.
  • ½ teaspoon peppercorns.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • ½ cup soya beans.
  • cooking oil.
  • 3 pieces Cakwe.
  • 2 scallions/ green onions/ spring onions
  • Prawn crackers or potato crisps see the note.

Spices and condiment:

  • Ground pepper. either white pepper or black pepper.
  • dried red chilli flakes optional.
  • Light soy sauce.
  • Sweet soy sauce optional.
  • Chilli sauce/ sambal optional.
  • fried onions optional.
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Instructions

For the congee:

  1. Place the rice/ cooked rice in a large pan with salam leaves, ginger, lemongrass, and water. Turn the heat on and boil the rice at medium-high heat.
  2. Once the water boils, add in the salt. Cook further and stir the rice every now and again. 
  3. Turn the heat down when the rice is bubbling hot and continue simmering the rice porridge until you get a thick porridge. When the grains are fully cooked, keep stirring the congee until you get a nice creamy porridge. Set aside.

For the yellow sauce:

  1. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the onions, garlic, ginger and candlenuts until you get a smooth paste. You can also use a food processor to make this paste.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan, then add in onion mixture, turmeric powder, ground coriander, salt and sugar. Fry further until the mixture releases the aroma, then add the water in.
  3. Cook the sauce until it is bubbling. Check the taste, and set aside.

For the garnish:

  1. Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes and boil them with ginger, peppercorns and salt until the poultry is fully cooked. Drain the chicken and deep fry until it looks lightly golden. Shred the fried chicken into slivers and set aside.
  2. Soak the soya beans for half an hour or so. Drain the water and deep fry the beans until they are lightly golden and crispy. Set aside.
  3. Slice the Cakwe and set aside.
  4. Slice the spring onions and set them aside.

Assemble the Bubur Ayam:

  1. Ladle out some rice porridge into a bowl. 
  2. Put some light soy sauce and yellow sauce over the congee.
  3. Sprinkle some spring onions and fried onions (if using).
  4. Scatter some fried soya beans over the porridge.
  5. Add some Cakwe slices and shredded chicken.
  6. Enjoy your bubur ayam with some prawn crackers or Kerupuk, and chilli sauce.

Notes

  • You can use any type of rice. I often use Basmati rice as this is the rice that I always have in my pantry. But you can choose long-grain rice, short-grain rice, or Thai rice.
  • If you don’t have salaam leaves, you can substitute them with 3 curry leaves and 2 bay leaves. I find the mix of these two leaves gives a similar fragrance. Though not quite the same as salam leaf.
  • Add the salt according to your taste. I suggest you put less first and try adding if you need more. 
  • You can buy ready-made cakwe/youtiao or make your own cakwe
  • Kemiri can be substituted with Macadamia nuts. They give richness to the flavor. If you don’t have any of them either, you can omit them altogether.
  • You can use fresh turmeric. For this recipe, you will only need about 1/3 inch of fresh turmeric root. If you use the fresh one, pound it together with the onion mixture. 
  • Traditionally Indonesians enjoy Bubur Ayam with Kerupuk (prawn crackers). But I often replace them with potato crisps, and they work fine, if not better. So feel free to try or have it with any cracker items that you like. 

Nutrition Information

Show Details
Serving 1g Calories 665kcal (33%) Carbohydrates 63g (21%) Protein 32g (64%) Fat 33g (51%) Saturated Fat 7g (35%) Polyunsaturated Fat 23g Cholesterol 64mg (21%) Sodium 2420mg (101%) Fiber 5g (20%) Sugar 9g (18%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6portions

Amount Per Serving

Calories 665 kcal

% Daily Value*

Serving 1g
Calories 665kcal 33%
Carbohydrates 63g 21%
Protein 32g 64%
Fat 33g 51%
Saturated Fat 7g 35%
Polyunsaturated Fat 23g 135%
Cholesterol 64mg 21%
Sodium 2420mg 101%
Fiber 5g 20%
Sugar 9g 18%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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5.0

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