Ayam Penyet is one of those food that seems to be getting popular nowadays. Considering the fact that few years back, no one in Singapore would have heard of it, it is quite a feat when we think about how it is flooding our market at the moment. I think it’s quite comparable to the Bubble Tea or Taiwanese Xiang Ji Pai craze. But yet while the interest of those 2 foods wear off after a while, this Indonesian dish I reckon will still be around for quite some time because it is a main dish, agree?
I remember when I was first introduced to Ayam Penyet, I was left thinking “What’s the difference between this and Nasi Ayam?” To me it is almost the same thing. From the rice to the chicken to the cucumbers to the soup. After eating it, it is indeed Nasi Ayam though it did came on some kind of wooden plate with noticeable more chili but that’s about it, what do you guys think?
I did mentioned that while touring Jakarta, Bali and Bandung few months back, I did not come across a single Ayam Penyet stall there and the closest thing was something called the Ayam Kremes. And the other interesting thing is that the Ayam Goreng(fried chicken) that I ate there came with the crispy bits that we see in Ayam Penyet here. So that seriously left me wondered whether is this Ayam Penyet a real thing or some kind of food that’s invented or tweaked to serve the local taste. I’m sure if you guys been to European countries and saw the Asian food there, you would had a good laugh about it. So whenever I see a Ayam Penyet, half my thoughts were also imagining Indonesians coming here and having a good laugh over it. Well if you don’t believe me, try google for Ayam Penyet and see whether will you or will you not land on Singapore blogs and websites.
Penyet is seriously the right name to use for whatever flatten food they’re trying to sell. For those who don’t know, Penyet means ‘Flatted’. Yet at the same time ‘PENYET’ does sound like ‘BIAN YE!’ which is also mean ‘FLATTED’ in Mandarin. Now if this name was newly invented by any Indonesian guy because they want to make us pay for Indonesian’s brand of flatted food, then he has absolutely got it right!
Indonesian 8 is a stall selling Indonesian food at Bedok Food Centre(Bedok Corner). I was told by a good friend that this is a rather famous Indonesian stall and their Satay Power is to die for though on this occasion I had the Ayam Penyet. Not impressed by my past experiences of eating Ayam Penyet elsewhere, I wanted to see how far better it can gets.
Ayam Penyet with ikan keropok on top.
Soup with rice.
The power sambal chili with tofu and tempeh at the back.
It arrived in style with Ikan keropok covering all over the wooden plate. I thought the chicken didn’t looked very appetising but it tasted a lot better. The goreng was good and wasn’t very ‘herby’ unlike those I’ve had in Indonesia and it was extremely crispy because it went into the deep fryer again before being flatten. Beneath the chicken and the keropok was sambal chili which was one of the best I’ve had. And what surprisingly greeted me was 2 pieces of freshly fried Tofu and a big piece of Tempeh(fermented soybeans in cake form) which provided a timely distraction from the chicken and keropok. The soup that came with it was equally good. It had a strong Ayam Soto flavour and went really well with the rice which had a whiff of the coconut milk. All of that for $3.80, it definitely went up a notch for me compared to my past Ayam Penyet makan experiences.
Price: $3.80
Recommendation: Ayam Penyet
Conclusion: The authenticity is there with the tempeh, tofu and keropok as evidence. It’s very similar to how Ayam Kremes are being served in Jakarta.
Likes: Authentic flavour.
Dislikes: Wish the chicken can be that little more juicy though I must admit that it’s much better than those chicken that I’ve eaten in Jakarta.
| Address | Overall Rating | ||
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Food: 6/10   Value: 6/10 Service: 6/10 Ambience: 5/10 Cleanliness: 5/10 Overall: 6/10 |
