Recipe: Ho Jiak Braised Chicken and Potatoes by Junda Khoo

Recipe: Ho Jiak Braised Chicken and Potatoes by Junda Khoo

5m prep | 30m cook

Last updated

Every culture and cuisine has their own version of braised chicken served with some kind of starchy carbohydrate. Some are tomato based, some are spicy, some are creamy, but ultimately, they are all comforting and can evoke a feeling of nostalgia when eaten. This recipe by Junda Khoo (chef and owner of chain eatery Ho Jiak) is exactly that, and can be found in his book Ho Jiak: A Taste of Malaysia.

Excerpt from A Taste of Malaysia: "As kids we ate a lot of Amah’s (grandmother's) tau eu bak (braised pork and boiled eggs in soy sauce). This was one of Amah’s variations, with chicken instead of pork and using the starch from the potatoes instead of pork gelatine to thicken the sauce. The first prototype I cooked was for Sharon and my brother in my last year of uni. I just put everything into a pot with a simple soy base, turned on the flame and boiled it. Over the years I have tried boiling the potato, deep-frying the potato, searing the chicken and a lot of other methods to get different textures and flavours, but in the end I landed on this simple version, more effort than just everything in the pot and cook, but still very simple. You can chuck everything into the pot and just boil it if you want, but it won’t be as good."

This recipe is an edited extract from Ho Jiak: A Taste of Malaysia by Junda Khoo, published by Hardie Grant Books. Photography credit: Alana Dimou. 

Ingredients (Serves 4)

  • 3 large potatoes, peeled
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 12 chicken mid wings
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 5 star anise
  • 5 cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tsp whole white peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 200ml light soy sauce
  • 1L water
  • 50g rock sugar
  • 1 tsp potato starch
  • sliced spring onions and chilli, to garnish

Cut the potatoes into 1.5cm cubes and place in a pot of boiling water until half-cooked. Drain well and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok to smoking point then add the chicken mid wings and whole garlic cloves. Toss for a few minutes until the skin is light brown, then remove and set aside.

Add the remining oil to the same wok and fry the potatoes until browned, then add in all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes are soft. Add the chicken back into the wok and simmer until cooked (about 10 minutes).

Mix the potato starch with a tablespoon of cold water and stir through the chicken to thicken, then season with salt, MSG and sugar to taste. Garnish with sliced spring onions and chilli.

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