Bubur Ayam Recipe for Indonesian Congee with Chicken and Shredded Omelette

This authentic bubur ayam recipe makes the traditional Indonesian congee with chicken and shredded omelette that is a classic local breakfast, a Balinese version of the region-wide congee or rice porridge dishes with which Asian food lovers will be familiar.

This bubur ayam recipe that I learned to make from a local here in our villa rental in Bali, Indonesia, was a reminder that one of the things we are certainly not missing this year on our Grantourismo project living like locals is the hotel breakfast.

The repetition of crowded hotel breakfast rooms, people eating like there is no tomorrow, and overcooked or excessively runny eggs has seen us skipping many a hotel breakfast in the past during our work as travel writers, particularly if we had an espresso machine in our hotel room.

But what we did like about hotels in Asia, was when we stayed at a hotel that actually catered to Asian guests and there always seemed to be a congee simmering away in a pot, with a wide array of condiments to spice up the rather homely rice broth. Here in Indonesia and Bali, the Indonesian congee is known as bubur and it is most commonly made with chicken.

As part of my quest to learn as much as I could about Balinese cuisine during our two weeks here, I have been cooking with Desak, our in-house villa cook, learning everything from this bubur ayam recipe, below, to a basa gede Balinese sauce recipe, and Balinese-style saté and ayam betutu, a steamed chicken dish wrapped in banana leaf that are made with the basa gede.

Bubur Ayam Recipe for Indonesian Congee with Chicken and Shredded Omelette

After a couple of days of making us scrambled eggs and the thin omelettes that the Balinese love, Desak, our cook at the villa, made us this wonderful bubur ayam recipe for the Indonesian congee with chicken (ayam) and shredded omelette.

Where are the eggs, you’re asking, considering I’m calling this series of breakfast posts ‘Weekend Eggs’? Well that’s a great question. I asked Desak to teach me a local breakfast dish that had eggs in it and she suggested this bubur ayam recipe for Indonesian congee with chicken, which has a shredded omelette sprinkled over the top. Good enough for me, considering that this is the last Asian stop on our year-long grand tour.

This bubur ayam recipe is quite simple. Rice cooked with some garlic with a chicken breast poaching in the pot — that becomes the stock. An omelette chopped into strips and placed on the rice porridge with the poached chicken meat shredded on top as well. Add some condiments and you’re done.

While this bubur ayam recipe doesn’t make a spicy rice porridge, the condiments can be spicy. Desak has a fondness for serving kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and lethal, chopped, tiny green bird’s-eye chilis in a small bowl with just about everything, so if you think your Indonesian congee is bland, a small amount of this mix will fix it!

The sweet soy sauce is essential to flavour the dish (adding a saltiness that brings out the flavour) even if you don’t want the chilis. It’s probably best to take a spoonful of the soy without the chili slices if you don’t like the heat.

The most intriguing ingredient in Desak’s bubur ayam is the semi-dried beans from the yard long beans (kacang panjang) that grow so prolifically here in Bali. Desak called them ‘peanuts’, but while they superficially had the look of peanuts, they had even more of a crunch.

Desak’s bubur ayam recipe also includes some dried Indonesian bay leaves which she adds to the stock. If you can’t find them just use normal bay leaves.

This bubur ayam recipe makes for a delicious, filling breakfast that’s great after a morning surf or swim and you’ve burnt up some calories.

Bubur Ayam Recipe for Indonesian Congee with Chicken and Shredded Omelette

Bubur Ayam Recipe (Indonesian Congee with Chicken)

AuthorTerence Carter

Bubur Ayam is quite a simple dish. Rice cooked with some garlic with a chicken breast poaching in the pot. An omelette chopped into strips and placed on the rice porridge with the poached chicken meat shredded on top as well. Add some condiments and you’re done.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Balinese

Servings made with recipeServings 2

Calories 450 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 1 egg
• 1 chicken breast
• 1 cup rice
• ½ cup beans
• 1 clove garlic - slightly crushed
• 1 handful parsley - chopped
• Dry fried onions
• Several small green bird’s-eye chilis - chopped finely
• ½ cup kecap manis - sweet soy sauce

Instructions

 

• Put the rice and 2 cups of water in a saucepan over high heat.
• When it starts to boil add the garlic and the chicken.
• Cook for 15-20 minutes; the chicken should be cooked through.
• Make the omelette by breaking the egg, and mixing and cooking it thinly in vegetable oil.
• Cut the omelette into strips. Shred the chicken, making sure it’s cooked right through. Some Balinese cooks will then fry the chicken as well.
• Pour some sweet soy sauce into a small bowl and add the chopped chilis.
• Distribute the ‘porridge’ into two deep bowls.
• Add the shredded chicken, omelette, fried onion, beans, and some chopped parsley.
• Add a little of the soy sauce to the bowl. Leave the bowl on the table for those who want some of the chilis to give the dish some real kick.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 450kcalCarbohydrates: 78.9gProtein: 21.7gFat: 4.2gSaturated Fat: 0.9gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 107mgFiber: 3.3gSugar: 1.2g

Do let us know if you make this bubur ayam recipe in the comments, below. We’d love to hear how it turns out.