King Of Nyonya Food - Kapitan Chicken

By Author: wendy
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Not every curry dishes are similar. Here is one of the most delicious curry I ever made and yet is not as spicy as many individuals assumed. It is known as Kapitan Chicken.

If you are among the many lot that think in this manner, I have a good news for you.Kapitan chicken is a dish that is comes from Malaysia, as a result of the cross cultural impact of culinary skills of the Malay towards the local Chinese group. This traditional cuisine is called kapitan chicken.

Some people believed the the origin of the name chicken kapitan was dated back to the period when the Portuguese was settled in Melacca in the 15th century.Throughout the colonial time of Portuguese, the head of the Chinese clan was recognized for the involvement to the society and was conferred the title called Kapitan. The intermarriage between the Chinese and Portuguese especially at the area of Melaka has produced the followings new generation called Peranakan. Chicken kapitan is one of the widely known Peranakan recipes that bears the title Kapitan, which basically means captain. Peranakans food is also known as Nyonya food as Nyonya means grandmother ...
... or Madam of the strait borned Chinese descendents

Melaka and Pinang are two major cities in Malaysia famous for Nyonya food especially Kapitan chicken. The Chinese and Malay who stayed here have created many western meals with a touch of Asian influence.Kapitan chicken still retain the bursting myriad of flavors of the exotic Malay dishes but has been changed to tantalize the taste buds of the westerner.The chicken used must be fresh and marinated overnight to ensure it is tender and juicy. The trick is to marinate and deep fried the chicken before it's simmered in a pot of bubbling hot coconut milk.

Kapitan chicken is different from the classic Malaysian curry not just it is less hot, but is also cooked with different group of spices. It has a distinct Nyonya flavor as a result of the combination of lemongrass, galangal (a type of ginger, also all blue ginger ), turmeric ( the regional terms it as yellow ginger ), coconut milk and belacan (local shrimp paste).It is different from the Malay and Indian curry as not only it is cooked with less chili, but is also the blend of spices used.The basic spices used in Malay and Indian curry such as cumin, fenugreek and fennel are hardly used.Instead, belacan is included a tiny amount with abundance of coconut milk.

Kapitan chicken is a refreshing option to the common Western meals as it is prepared with a lot of oriental herbs and spices. Many westerners and even some Asian are unable to take on fiercely hot cuisines particularly those authentic recipes from Malaysia, Indonesia and India. The taste has been altered to suit the taste buds of the Chinese who does not eat food that is too spicy.This is because the thick sauce of this dish matches well with food that is plain in nature. You can check out http://www.cookmalaysianfood.com if you want to know more about Malaysian food particularly Kapitan chicken in more detail.