Ayam Betutu

Marvellina’s ayam betutu brings a whole chicken together with a cooked root-and-spice paste and leafy stuffing. She describes this Balinese version as a hybrid of banana-leaf wrapping, aromatic seasoning and vegetable filling.

Shallots, selected candlenuts, garlic, fresh ginger, turmeric and galangal join coriander, roasted shrimp paste, makrut lime leaves and coconut oil in the ground paste. White pepper, salt, coconut sugar and lime juice are mixed in before the paste is fried.

Half the paste is reserved for the chicken’s surface, while the remaining half cooks the selected kale until partly wilted. The kale mixture and bruised tender lemongrass go into the chicken cavity; the reserved paste coats the outside.

Banana leaves surround the bird inside an aluminium-foil parcel. After marinating, the selected pressure-cooker method places that parcel on a trivet above water, then lets the chicken rest before opening the wrapping.

An optional final broil darkens the skin. The chicken is presented with the juices collected inside its parcel and the leafy stuffing, with sambal matah offered separately.