Making Semur Ayam with Chef Degan Septoadji (Jakarta, Indonesia)

In Jakarta, chef Degan Septoadji taught us to prepare semur ayam, a simple, home-style chicken braise. The flavor base is a white spice paste called bumbu dasar putih, made by blitzing aromatics—shallots, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, cashews and nutmeg—in a blender. The savory-sweet stew gets complexity from kecap manis, or Indonesian sweet soy sauce, as well as oyster sauce and regular soy sauce. If you are unable to find kecap manis, make an approximation by whisking 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 tablespoon each molasses and packed light brown sugar. Makrut lime leaves bring wonderful aroma to the dish; look for them in Asian markets. If you can’t find them, simply leave them out. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.