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Inche Kabin - Malaysian Fried Chicken

Name: Inche Kabin - Malaysian Fried Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 8-10 chicken drumsticks (or 16-20 chicken wings); enough oil for deep frying (Note 1); 100 ml coconut milk; 200 gram shallot (or onion); 3 lemongrass, white parts only; 2 eggs; 1 1/2 tablespoon salt; 3 tablespoon curry powder; 2 teaspoon turmeric powder; 1 teaspoon chili powder; 6 tablespoon corn starch

Last updated: Feb 24, 2021 — Published: Dec 21, 2017 — By: Anita — 14 comments

These Malaysian fried chicken are bursting with flavors from coconut milk, lemongrass, shallot, and curry powder. Serve with nasi lemak sambal and coconut rice.

There was a food stall I frequented when I was a student in Malaysia that sold superb inche kabin to go along with nasi lemak. Although rendang will always be the popular choice for nasi lemak, I almost always couldn’t stop myself and ended up with one inche kabin (fried chicken) too.

Years later I learned how to make this fried chicken dish myself. Whenever I am in the mood for some seriously good fried chicken, a batch of inche kabin - Malaysian fried chicken do wonders to stave off the cravings.

Ingredients for inche kabin (Malaysian fried chicken): chicken, shallots, lemongrass, eggs, coconut milk, curry powder, chili powder, turmeric, salt, and cornstarch.

The marinade for Malaysian fried chicken

The key to great inche kabin (fried chicken) starts with the marinating sauce, which includes coconut milk, shallot, lemongrass, eggs, curry powder, turmeric powder, chili powder, cornstarch, and salt.

Luckily it is a super simple sauce to prepare as long as you have a blender. I typically dump everything in my blender and just whizz away until it becomes a smooth sauce.

You can use a whole chicken cut up into pieces, or about 8-10 chicken drumsticks, or even 16-20 pieces of chicken wings.

To make sure the sauce coats the chicken really really well, I always place the sauce and the chicken in a large gallon size ziplock and marinate for one whole night. If you cannot wait for one night, at least try to let the chicken marinate for 4 hours.

(1) Place marinade ingredients in a food processor. (2) Puree into a smooth paste. (3) Mix chicken with marinating sauce and rest overnight. (4) Deep fry marinated chicken until golden brown.

How to fry chicken

1. Make sure chicken is at room temperature

Before frying, be sure to remove the marinated chicken from the fridge and let them return to room temperature. I usually remove the chicken an hour before frying.

2. Choose a heavy pot or a heavy-bottom pot

The best pot/pan for frying chicken is a cast-iron skillet/pot or a Dutch oven since it will retain heat better and make sure the oil temperature stays where we want it.

3. Choose a high smoke point oil

When it comes to deep-frying, you want to use a high smoke point oil. Peanut oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, or vegetable shortening is all good choice.

Also, be sure to always cook chicken in batches so you don’t overcrowd the skillet/pot and lower the oil temperature too much. This can lead to an increase in cooking time and a greasier chicken.

4. Fry until chicken is fully cooked

Fill your skillet/pot with 1-inch of oil and heat over medium-high until the oil is hot. If you have a thermometer, it should register 175 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit). Fry chicken in hot oil, turning every 1-2 minutes until the skin is deep golden brown and the chicken is fully cooked.

If you have a meat thermometer, the thickest part of the fried chicken should reach 74 Celsius (165 Fahrenheit) to be fully cooked. It takes about 12-15 minutes for drumsticks and about 10-12 minutes for wings. If you are new to frying chicken, keep in mind that slightly overcooked chicken is vastly preferred to undercooked one.

5. Drain on a wire rack

Although you can drain the fried chicken on paper towels to soak up excess fat, it’s not exactly a great thing for the fried chicken. Letting fried chicken (or fried anything really) sit on paper towels will make the fried chicken crust less crispy once cooled. I know the photos show me doing this exact thing I said not to do, but well, we all live and learn. 😁

The best tool is a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Fried chicken will stay crispy once they cool. Remember to be patient and wait for 10 minutes for the chicken to cool before serving.

Drain fried chicken on a wire rack to remove excess oil.

Serve with chili sauce and coconut rice

Inche kabin tastes wonderful as is, but my favorite food stall always gave me plenty of sambal to go with it. My favorite chili sauce for these fried chicken is nasi lemak sambal. But inche kabin with generous serving of sambal terasi or sambal bajak is equally lovely.

Steamed white rice is lovely with the fried chicken, but if it is possible, I highly suggest serving these with coconut rice, such as nasi uduk or nasi gurih.

Reheating fried chicken

If you have leftover fried chickens, you can store them in the fridge in an airtight container. To get that crispy skin back, try heating the chicken in a preheated oven of 200 Celsius/400 Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes. 10 minutes if you start from room temperature chicken, and 15 minutes if you start from cold fridge temperature chicken.