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Ayam Suwir Santan - Shredded Chicken in Coconut Milk
Quick and easy shredded tender chicken breast with a delicious and flavorful coconut milk. This Indonesian dish is great as a standalone or with nasi liwet.
Shredded chicken dishes are my go-to when I need to prepare a quick and easy Indonesian dish. They are usually so much simpler compared to other Indonesian chicken dishes, and still packs a ton of flavor.
One of my favorite shredded chicken dishes is this ayam suwir santan, or shredded chicken in coconut milk. This dish originates from Solo, and is part of the traditional Solo rice meal called nasi liwet. But, I make this all the time to enjoy with a simple steamed white rice.
What do I need to prepare ayam suwir santan?
You will need:
- 2 chicken breast, cut into thin slices
- 200 ml (1/2 can) coconut milk
- 300 ml water
- 3 daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves), omit if you don’t have these
- 2 teaspoon palm sugar (Indonesian: gula Jawa), or use coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander (Indonesian: bubuk ketumbar)
Also, you will need to grind these ingredients into a spice paste:
- 75 gram shallots (Indonesian: bawang merah)
- 2 cloves garlic (Indonesian: bawang putih)
- 2 candlenut (Indonesian: kemiri), or sub with an equal amount of macadamia
- 2 lemongrass (Indonesian: sereh)
- 1 inch galangal (Indonesian: lengkuas)
How do I cook ayam suwir santan?
Here is my step-by-step:
1. Cook the chicken.
Place thinly sliced chicken breast, along with the rest of the ingredients, in a pot. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot, and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. About 30 minutes.
2. Shred the chicken.
Remove chicken pieces from the broth. Shred with a pair of forks. Arrange the shredded chicken in a serving platter.
3. Strain the broth.
Strain the broth to get a clear soup, then boil the strained broth.
4. Serve shredded chicken with strained broth.
Pour the strained broth over the shredded chicken, and serve immediately with steamed white rice.
What do I serve with ayam suwir santan?
Ayam suwir santan is a common part of nasi liwet. A complete nasi liwet typically has these dishes:
- nasi liwet rice, cooked in coconut milk, chicken stock, lemongrass, and daun salam
- opor ayam - chicken in coconut milk
- telur pindang - Javanese braised eggs
- labu siam tumis - chayote in spicy coconut milk
- sambal terasi - shrimp paste chili sauce
Of course, since this dish is very yummy on its own, feel free to serve ayam suwir with simple steamed white rice.
Ayam Suwir Santan - Shredded Chicken in Coconut Milk
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (~ 450 gram/1 lb), cut into thin slices
- 200 ml (1/2 can) coconut milk
- 300 ml water
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves (Indonesian: daun salam), omit if you don't have these
- 2 teaspoon palm sugar (Indonesian: gula Jawa), or use coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander (Indonesian: bubuk ketumbar)
- Grind the following into spice paste
- 75 gram shallot (Indonesian: bawang merah)
- 2 cloves garlic (Indonesian: bawang putih)
- 2 candlenuts (Indonesian: kemiri), or an equal amount of macadamia
- 2 lemongrass (Indonesian: sereh), white parts from lower 3 inches of lemongrass stalks (*)
- 1 inch galangal (Indonesian: lengkuas)
Instructions
- Cook the chicken. Place thinly sliced chicken breast, along with the rest of the ingredients, in a pot. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot, and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. About 15 minutes.
- Shred the chicken. Remove chicken pieces from the broth. Shred with a pair of forks. Arrange the shredded chicken in a serving platter.
- Strain the broth. Strain the broth to get a clear soup, then boil the strained broth.
- Serve shredded chicken with strained broth. Pour the strained broth over the shredded chicken, and serve immediately with steamed white rice.
Notes
- (*) Don't discard the top parts, put them into the pot with the rest of the ingredients
Comments
What's a good substitute for candle nut? I thinking macadamia or cashew.
The more common one we use is macadamia, but I think cashew is also not a bad idea.
Such a tasty and simple recipe, we loved it!
This was my first time trying this and it's amazing! Thank you for a great recipe!
I went to Bali a few years ago and had a dish similar to this. Excited to bring those flavors to my kitchen with this recipe! Thanks for posting!
This recipe looks absolutely amazing. I can't wait to give this a try for my next date night with my husband.
What a great way to enjoy chicken! So simple and flavorful. Perfect for a weeknight meal over rice. The only thing I'm not sure about is the galangal. I think ginger is the closest I can come.
Very delicious use of breast meat- Fairly easy and definitely will make your life easier with how good it is as a leftover or re-purposed like putting the meat in a salad or whatever (I thought it would make a really neat chicken salad, but to be honest, it got eaten up too fast hahaha).
When it was cooking, I was thinking "no way am I going to get a clear broth from this" but the coconut milk solids and spice paste remnants clumped together so it came pretty clear from a standard mesh strainer.
I made the Nasi Liwet to go with it, and that was some seriously yummy chicken & rice. I think this would be a nice paired meal to introduce someone to the flavors of Indonesian food without freaking them out with how spicy it can get hahaha. It made me really want some sambal and eggs, too- so I'll be sure to prep some hardboiled eggs for next time!
Hi Anita, how big of a chicken breast would you say for each? In terms of weight would be great.
Hi Jessica, the total weight should be around 450 grams (1 lb).
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