Uncle Penyet and his smashed Indonesian food

We love fried chicken.

One way to make it even tastier is to smash it repeatedly on a mortar and serve it on white rice, with a side of curry and super spicy sambal belachan. Like how Uncle Penyet and numerous other ayam penyet stores do it.

It’s even better when you can get it freshly-fried and delivered straight to your home. We don’t order it as often as Pok Pok Thai, but Uncle Penyet is definitely in our Top 10 food delivery choices, especially their nasi ayam penyet.

Ayam penyet originated from Indonesia but it’s been around in Singapore for a long time, but there’s been a recent proliferation of chain stores popping up all over the island. Uncle Penyet alone has 11 outlets (and counting) in all four corners of Singapore, proof of its popularity among locals.

We’ve tried other brands before, but we keep going back to their nasi ayam penyet whenever our craving surfaces. It’s a simple dish, but somehow this Indonesian comfort food always leaves us full and satisfied.

The rempah seasoning in the batter is light but unmistakable, and the chicken underneath always arrives warm and moist. First thing I do is to pour all the curry onto the rice and sprinkle on the separately-packed crispy fried bits.

Then I assemble a bite that includes all the key components — crunchy curry-soaked rice, fried chicken, cucumber — and top it off with a generous amount of the oh so spicy! sambal.

Among all the spicy food that I eat regularly, their sambal belachan definitely ranks way up there. Even though they don’t provide much of it, the small amount goes a long way.

Be careful. Seriously.

The other deep-fried smashed poultry that’s usually available on their menu is duck, but since it’s priced significantly higher, we only order it occasionally.

Compared to chicken, the flavour of bebek is much more flavourful, though the meat tends to be less moist. The portion size is also significantly larger, which sort of justifies the higher price. Whenever we do order it, we always enjoy it.

The Wife’s favourite choice doesn’t involve any smashing, unfortunately. The ikan bawal, or pomfret, only appears sporadically, but it’s her go-to item when it does.

It’s not the only fish on their menu, as the dory and kerapu (grouper) are usually available, but it’s the most interesting.

For the price charged, the size of the pomfret is surprisingly large and consistently so across the many orders we’ve made. The fish is not fishy and despite looking flat, it’s surprisingly meaty.

Even though it takes a bit of effort to pick out the bones, she always enjoys her meal whenever she orders the bawal.

There actually have been times when we feel like having some Uncle Penyet, but didn’t go through with the order just because the pomfret was unavailable.

Remember the spicy sambal I mentioned earlier? I always end up having 1 and a 1/2 portions, because it’s too spicy for The Wife, and she’s usually quite good with spicy food.

So, again, be careful.

We’re fans of Indonesian food, especially nasi goreng and sate, but there’s something about having our food violently smashed that makes ayam penyet taste just that little bit more delicious.