At least once a month, if not more, my husband and I crave Malaysian food. Thanks to finally finding store-bought sambal that actually has shrimp paste in it, I've been throwing sambal around in meals like it's no biggie. Here's a quick recipe of the ayam goreng (fried chicken) burger I made last night.
Marinate four chicken thigh fillets with a tablespoon of sambal (add shrimp paste if your sambal doesn't have any), half a spoon each of turmeric and cumin powder, a sprinkle of crushed toasted fennel, salt and smoked paprika to taste, and a beaten egg. While you heat up oil to pan-fry the chicken, mix 3 parts flour and 1 part corn flour, to which sprinkle some marinade from the chicken to make the batter rough. Coat each fillet in the batter and pan-fry for 7 min on either side. While that happens, mix a tablespoon of sambal with two tablespoons of mayo, a spoon of sriracha and some chopped fresh coriander leaves. Also slice and fry half an onion on the side.
To plate each burger, place two lettuce leaves, two fried thigh fillets, a generous amount of sauce and onions on top of the lower half of the bun. Cover with the top half and serve hot!
