Earl Grey Latte

I have some French Earl Grey tea leaves from TWG at home. TWG Tea Company is a Singapore company selling premium tea leaves. The first time I came across ther shop, I was very surprised to learn that it is a Singapore company and not a British company.

I really love this tea because it's not only very fragrant, the leaves look pretty too! This fragrant variation of the classic Earl Grey tea has been infused with citrus fruits and has French blue cornflowers in it.

Pretty, isn't it?

I decided to make myself a cup of earl grey latte today. It's really easy to make - very similar to how I made Matcha Latte.

This would be a really nice drink to go with Earl Grey Tea bread, or a simple, quick-mix banana cake. Except it was a really hot day today so I made half a glass of this and added lots of ice to it for Iced Earl Grey Latte!

Beer Can Chicken

The specialties from the restaurant at Tempat Senang in Batam are "Beer Can Chicken" and "Nasi Campur". I told The Husband I wanted Nasi Campur, since we were in Indonesia after all..

But the name "Beer Can Chicken" intrigued me. A simple search on google answered my questions. "Beer can chicken" or also called "Beer in the Butt Chicken", is basically chicken grilled with half a can of beef stuck in its butt. Now the chicken may look ridiculous over the grill or in the oven this way, but this method of cooking the chicken produces a really superbly tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken with crispy skin.

This is because whilst the chicken is dry roasted on the outside, the inside of the chicken is cooked, broiled almost with steamy beer. The fat of the chicken from the skin also drips off easily with the chicken cooked in a standing position. The yeast and malt in the beer also reacts with the chicken, making it extra tender and soft.

Ingredients
- 1 large chicken (about 1.2 - 1.5kg), washed and pat dry
- Half a can of beer
(Be sure to drink the other half whilst it's still cold)
- Seasoning - anything you like
(Fresh herbs, salt, pepper, etc. I used a spicy Indonesia BBQ mix this time around)
- A bit of softened butter
(I used the left over bit of my homemade sundried tomato butter)


What I did
1. Trim away excessively fat bits of the skin
2. Make small incisions in parts of the skin at the breast, back, thighs and slot in the softened butter. This little bit of butter helps to really crisp up the skin during the roasting process
3. Rub the seasoning in. Get it all over the chicken - outside and inside and under the skin where you can as well.
4. Let the marinate do the magic for at least a few hours, overnight if possible
5. Preheat oven at 225 deg C
6. Insert the chicken over the half can of beer and place in a baking tray
7. Turn the heat down to 180 deg C and place chicken on the lowest rack in the oven
8. Roast chicken for about 90 minutes, basting it with the drippings about halfway through the roasting process
9. If the top of the chicken gets a little too dark during the roasting process, cover it lightly with a small piece of aluminum foil

The chicken looks a bit ridiculous, with a can in its butt

Putting the tray on the lowest rack of the oven is necessary because 

the chicken is quite tall, since it's in a standing position

After 90 minutes of roasting..  
Oh my pictures don't do the chicken justice...

Another view of the chicken

Once the chicken is done, be careful as you are removing it from the oven as the beer is quite hot. You can eat the chicken by carving it whilst it's still standing.. but it's probably better (and safer) to lift it off the beer can into a separate tray.

This is one of the most tender roasted chicken I've ever cooked. Do give it a try and let me know how it turns out. If you don't want to use beer, Sprite works just fine too.

Hunt for the perfect Ayam Penyet

Ayam Penyet is an Indonesian dish of fried chicken - heavily seasoned, lightly battered and then lightly smashed flat. "Ayam" means chicken and "penyet" translates to smashed - so Ayam Penyet means Smashed Chicken. Many also translates this dish to Fried Smashed Chicken.

It is usually served with fried tempeh (fermented soy product), fried tofu, a slice or two of cucumber and fiery chilli.

I've been craving for good Ayam Penyet recently.

During our trip to Batam, I was delighted to see Ayam Penyet Ria at Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre. Ayam Penyet Ria is a popular shop for Ayam Penyet in Singapore that I've never managed to visit.

But.. the Ayam Penyet was disappointing. The marinate wasn't tasty enough, it wasn't crispy enough.. the portion was terribly small and overall, it just wasn't enough to satisfy my cravings. Based on the reviews I've read on the restaurant, I'm not sure it's the same chain, actually.. So maybe I should go and try the real Ayam Penyet Ria in Singapore.

Disappointing Ayam Penyet in Batam

There are, however, a couple good Ayam Penyet places that I know about.

One is all the way across the other side of the island at Choa Chu Kang's Lot 1, highly recommended by Petunia. I seldom like food in shopping mall food courts, because I think that they are usually cooked without "heart". They may look alright but there is no real depth in flavour because they are mostly run in a franchise or chain-store manner.

But the Ayam Penyet at this store in Foodfare is pretty good - crispy, flavourful fried chicken, albeit a tad too dry and wonderful, fiery chilli paste. The best part is the furry-looking stuff on top - some say they are fried shredded lemongrass and others say fried shredded coconut. Whatever they are, they are bursting with the flavour of spices and go very well with rice.

The furry stuff on top of the chicken is what I like most about this Ayam Penyet at Lot 1

Another place with great Ayam Penyat is Dju Dju Indonesian Food, at 304 Serangoon Avenue 2, #01-14. This is a stall in a local coffeeshop run by a whole group of aunties. They have also recently opened a store in Food Junction at the Nex shopping mall. The chicken is well seasoned and well fried, also a tad dry but the skin is so flavourful I tend to overlook this one small flaw. The chilli is extremely spicy yet oh-so-fragrant, with a hint of freshly squeezed lime. Apart from the Ayam Penyat, I also like the Mee Rebus and Otah in this store.

Ayam Penyet from Dju Dju

I'm still on the hunt for the #1 place for it in Singapore. Where is your favourite Ayam Penyet store located?