Ayam Bumbu Rica-Rica Bowl (Spiced Tomato Chile Chicken)

About This Recipe

Rica-rica is a spicy dish from North Sulawesi built on a rica, a fresh chile-forward spice paste that's fried until fragrant before the chicken and tomato go in to simmer together into a thick, deeply flavored sauce. Unlike many other Indonesian braises that lean sweet from kecap manis, rica-rica stays savory and properly spicy, letting the fresh chiles, shallot, garlic and ginger carry the dish. The technique that defines a good rica-rica is frying the blended spice paste in oil until it darkens and the raw edge disappears, a step Indonesian cooks call menumis — skipping it or rushing it leaves the sauce tasting sharp and uncooked. Tomatoes are added partway through, breaking down as they simmer into a thick, clinging sauce that coats the chicken. Served over rice in this bowl format, the dish keeps its bold Sulawesi heat and tomato-forward sauce, finished with a scatter of fresh basil, which is a common herb garnish across Indonesian home cooking.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 600 gboneless chicken thighs(cut into large chunks)
• 1 tbsplime juice
• 0.5 tspfine sea salt
• 6shallots(roughly chopped)
• 4 clovesgarlic(roughly chopped)
• 6red bird's eye chiles(or to taste, roughly chopped)
• 2large red chiles(such as Fresno, roughly chopped)
• 2 cmfresh ginger(sliced)
• 3 tbspvegetable oil
• 2 mediumtomatoes(chopped)
• 2kaffir lime leaves(torn, optional)
• 1 tspfine sea salt(for the sauce)
• 0.5 cupwater
• 3 cupscooked white rice(for serving)
• 0.5 cupfresh Thai basil leaves(for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the chicken

   Toss chicken with lime juice and salt. Set aside while you prepare the spice paste.

2. 2

   Make the spice paste

   Blend shallots, garlic, both types of chile and ginger into a coarse paste using a food processor or mortar and pestle.

3. 3

   Fry the paste

   Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the spice paste and fry, stirring often, 5-6 minutes until deeply fragrant and darkened.

   Don't rush this step — the paste should visibly darken and the raw, sharp smell should mellow into something rounder and more fragrant before you move on.

4. 4

   Cook the chicken

   Add chicken to the pan and cook, stirring, 5 minutes until it's coated in the paste and no longer pink on the outside.

5. 5

   Add tomato and simmer

   Add tomatoes, kaffir lime leaves, salt and water. Cover and simmer 15-18 minutes until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened, stirring occasionally.

6. 6

   Serve

   Spoon the rica-rica chicken and sauce over rice, and garnish generously with fresh Thai basil leaves.

Variations

• •

  Substitute the chicken for whole small fish or squid for a rica-rica ikan or rica-rica cumi variation, both common in North Sulawesi.

• •

  Add a handful of green beans or long beans to the simmer for extra vegetables in the bowl.

• •

  Reduce the number of chiles by half for a milder version while still keeping the tomato-forward sauce character.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days; the flavor deepens overnight. Reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of water if the sauce has thickened too much.

Frequently Asked Questions