Ayam Masak Merah Got to learn about the fairly new AGLONEMA Indonesian Food that had opened at the Henly Huat Drinks Food Court a couple of months back — we only got to know of its existence when passing by the coffeeshop and noticing a bunch of signages illustrating the various dishes that the food stall has to offer. Considering its rather hidden stall unit that is tucked at the deepest corner of the coffeeshop right beside the outlet of the Authentic Chai Chee Bak Chor Mee there, most would probably not even notice them being around even for regulars that visit the coffeeshop for Bu Bu Gao Sheng Pancake (i.e. the Min Jiang Kueh stall) the Chinese mixed economy rice or the Hong Kong-style roasted meats stall. Offering only a limited number of dishes considering the space that it occupies, AGLONEMA Indonesian Food’s offerings include that of the Ikan / Ayam Penyek, Nasi Goreng Petai and the Beef Ball Soup Noodle. We actually visited AGLONEMA Indonesian Food after being attracted by one of the offerings listed in the posters plastered around the coffeeshop that features blue pea flower-infused rice — that item had however been since removed from the menu. Considering so, we went for the Ayam Masak Merah instead — for those unaware of the dish, this essentially translates into “red-cooked chicken”, and is pretty much a dish featuring fried chicken with a stew consisting of spicy dried chilies, onions and tomatoes.
The version at AGLONEMA Indonesian Food sees it being accompanied with sunny side-up, a rectangular fish cake, as well as both a bowl of soup, and coleslaw being served on the side. The only lady manning the stall also mentioned that there are some garlic crackers that one can help themselves to if ordering an individually-sized main here; something which we did not go for since it was located at a rather odd spot to get to. We really like how they were pretty generous with the gravy for the Ayam Masak Merah here; there is definitely enough to go around the entire portion of rice here as well. We have had Ayam Masak Merah that comes with a bit more sweetness from caramalised onions but this one is a little heavier on the savouriness of the dried chilies; the tomatoes added in the cooking process does give it a bit of a tang at the back of the tongue as well. Considering how it has been soaked in all that sauce, the fried chicken thigh doesn’t come with a crisp exterior anymore having absorbed all the gravy that it came with; that being said, the meat is still fairly easy to tear apart from the bones though there were quite a fair bit of small fragments of the bones for this one. Interestingly, AGLONEMA Indonesian Food serves their Ayam Masak Merah with coleslaw on the side; this was served chilled and comes pretty close to the standard coleslaw that would come with western cuisine — creamy with a refreshing crunch, while the sunny side here does come with a fully-cooked yolk but was otherwise free from any undesirable stench of overused oil and wasn’t particularly greasy as well. Considering how the area around Neil Road has become rather gentrified over the years, such places like AGLONEMA Indonesian Food are difficult to come across in the heart of town — no doubt they aren’t the only establishment serving up Indonesian food in the vicinity, but they do certainly provide yet another option for affordable dining in the ‘hood.
