This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
Malaysia has some of the best foods that the world has to offer and I am not even biased.
If you have traveled to Malaysia, you would know what I mean.
Foodies all become an instant fan with our food.
Lucky for little G, I take him back to Malaysia every summer and he agrees that Malaysian food is absolutely delicious.
Other Recipes You Might Like
This Malaysian Belacan Fried Chicken is his favorite dish.
His eyes lit up when I told him that I was making him fried chicken for dinner.
Belacan is shrimp paste, which is a key ingredient in Malaysian recipes.
Much like fish sauce to Thai and Vietnamese cuisines, belacan is pungent but it adds amazing flavors and taste structure to our food.
For this recipe, you want to use shrimp sauce in a bottle, and not in a block.
This Malaysian Belacan Fried Chicken is extremely delicious, much like Thai Fried Chicken.
It calls for only a handful of ingredients.
Give me a choice, I would always go for Asian fried chicken. Enjoy!
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 312 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
For more great recipes like this, sign up for our newsletter. We’ll send daily recipes you’ll love!
Sign up for our newsletter!
Malaysian Belacan Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 small chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon cilantro stems juice
- 1 tablespoon shrimp sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken with water and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside. Prepare the cilantro juice by cutting off the bottom 2-inch (5cm) part of cilantro (the stems). Using a mortar and pestle, pound the stems and extract the juice from the stems using your hand.
- In a big bowl, whisk the shrimp sauce, sugar, egg white, sesame oil, cilantro juice, corn starch and flour together until smooth. Add the chicken, coat well, and marinate for at least 4-6 hours.
- When ready, heat up a pot of cooking oil or use a deep fryer. Drop the chicken gently into the oil and deep fry the chicken until crispy and golden brown (the inside should cook thoroughly but remains juicy). Transfer the fried chicken out on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.
- Serve the fried chicken immediately with chili sauce.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Can i use an air fryer with this recipe rather than deep fry?
You can try!
Hi,
Is it possible to bake in the oven rather than deep fried the chicken ? If yes, please advise temperature and how much time is required to bake in the oven ? Thanks
Not, you need to deep-fry for the best results. I don’t recommend baking.
Hi Rasa Malaysia!
I’m really really excited to found your website full of Malaysian recipe! Balacan chicken is my all time favourite. Exciting to try out it’s authentic Penang flavour recipe! The only problem is I can only find Belacan block from where I live, is it possible and how do I substitute that to the shrimp sauce in this recipe?
You can get Lee Kum Kee brand fine shrimp sauce.
Thanks for replying! No shrimp sauce available from where I live. T-T Might do it next time
it really taste good my kids love ❤❤❤❤it thanks for sharing the recipe???
What is the recipe for the chili sauce that the chicken is served with?
There is no recipe, just a bottled chili sauce.
i like how smooth the batter looks. is there any way i can make it look the same without cilantro juice and shrimp sauce?
The shrimp pasta (belacan) is that makes this Belacan fried chicken. You can skip the cilantro juice.
About how many minutes in the frier?
Really it looks very delicious and crispy. I hope you will share more delicious food for us regularly. Thanks.
I always do share! :)
Can you use an alternate to the actual cilantro stem juice? Knorr has a premade cube and other brands carry cilantro flavoring.
You can skip it. I wouldn’t use curry cilantro flavor.
Looks really Delicious. Makes me want to try!