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Was scrolling around social media and got to know about Anakmak that had recently opened its doors at the Sinfoodie coffeeshop at Blk 215 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 recently. Anakmak is a new tenant that occupies one of the stall units situated in the corner of the coffeeshop — these folks had actually once operated as a home-based business, and this is the very first time in which they are operating from a full-fledged brick-and-mortar space for their business. Being a Muslim-owned establishment, Anakmak’s signature offering would be their Ayam Gepok; smashed crispy fried chicken with sambal that features cashews as well as tempeh, tofu and cabbage. Other dishes apart from Ayam Gepok that are served up at Anakmak would include a line-up of addons, as well as Nasi Lemak, Mee Rebus, Mee Soto and various renditions of Epok-Epok.
Anakmak does mention that their version of Ayam Gepok is one that carries their very own modern twist — there are also some influences from their mother in terms of the recipe that are used for their rendition of the dish here. Anakmak’s Ayam Gepok does feature all of the elements that one would typically find in a standard Ayam Gepok elsewhere — patrons do get the option to opt for spicy levels 1 to 4 for the sambal; we went with level 2 for our order, though it is worth noting that the sambal for spicy level 4 does not come with cashew sauce along with it. The smashed crispy fried chicken comes in the form of a chicken leg similar to that of Ayam Penyet; while flavoursome from the marination process using turmeric, the meat does come a little bit on the drier side. Adding a little bit of the sambal does help with things here — undoubtedly the star of the show with its piquant spiciness as one would usually expect from Indonesian-style sambals, though we liked that slightly saltish and nutty note brought upon by the cashew sauce that is similar to nut butter. The twist done by Anakmak would be with the burnt cabbage that is gives a bit of a streaky bite with a slight char alongside a hint of sweetness that we found to be pretty tasty.
