'Ayam sioh' is a flavourful chicken dish from Malaysia. Claude Bosi gives it the Michelin star treatment.
For the chicken, bring the stock to the boil in a large pan. Add the chicken and make sure it is well covered with the stock. Simmer to poach until cooked through, this should take about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
For the tamarind paste, melt the palm sugar with the soy sauce in a pan. Add the tamarind, coriander seeds, and shallots to different pan. Once the palm sugar has melted add it to the shallot pan. Cook on a low heat for around 6 hours until thick and reduced in volume. Add the rice vinegar. Cook for a further 20 minutes then leave to cool.
Add the cockles and 300ml/10fl oz water to a large lidded pan. Cover and steam the cockles until they have opened. Drain the cockles reserving the cooking liquor. Discard any cockles that have not opened. Pass the cooking liquor through a fine sieve and set aside. Remove the cockle meat from the shells, cool over iced water and set aside.
For the vegetables, add the butter and stock to a large pan and mix well. Add the turnips and cook until tender.
For the shallots, add the shallots, butter, sugar, thyme and chicken stock to a large pan and cook over a low heat until the shallots are caramelised. This will take about 25 minutes.
For the sauce, place the chicken wings in a large roasting tray with the olive oil and cook over a high heat for 2-4 minutes until golden-brown.
Add the cockle meat, shallots, thyme and black peppercorns to the chicken wings.
When the shallots have caramelised, add the butter and reserved cockle cooking liquor and scrape the pan to de-glaze. When the sauce is reduced to a syrup, add the brown chicken stock and cook for 20 minutes. Pass through a chinois (fine sieve), return to the pan and cook until the volume of liquid has reduced by half.
Just before serving, portion the chicken and fry it in a little butter.
To serve, place the chicken on a large plate along with the tamarind paste, shallots and sauce. Garnish with the turnip tops and oyster leaves. Drizzle with the coriander infused oil.
