Julie Lin’s Curry Leaf Chicken Legs

Crispy turmeric chicken legs in a rich, velvety Malaysian salted egg yolk sauce.

30 minutes prep

1 hour cook

Serves 4

Guest Contributor

Ingredients

Chicken:

2 tspground turmeric

1 tspchilli powder

4chicken legs, skin on

vegetable oil, for frying

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salted egg yolk sauce:

2 tbspbutter

2garlic cloves

3-4cmroot ginger, peeled and minced

4baked salted egg yolks (you can use shop bought, or find recipe below)

10fresh curry leaves, plus extra (optional) to garnish

2fresh red or green bird’s eye chillies, chopped (optional)

3 tbspevaporated milk

1 tspwhite sugar

1/4 tspground white pepper

We had Malaysian-Scottish chef Julie Lin in the Twisted studio to cook a recipe from her new cookbook, Sama Sama. She chose this dish because of the nostalgic Malaysian cooking techniques and flavours – particularly the use of evaporated milk, which is used a lot due to lack of dairy farms. She’s also desperate for everyone to try salted egg yolk sauce, and for good reason. It’s rich, velvety and absolutely phenomenal when slathered over tender, crispy chicken. You have to try it.

Method

To salt your own egg yolks: cover the base of a shallow plastic container with fine salt, 2-3cm deep. Use a spoon to make dents, then add a yolk to each. Cover them with more salt, then refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. The yolks should now have a sticky, gummy texture, perfect for layering on rice. They keep for 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to its lowest setting (about 60°C/40°C fan), place the yolks on an oiled wire rack and bake for 3 hours until dry and hard. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Combine the turmeric and chilli powder in a small bowl, then season with salt and black pepper. Rub this spice mixture into the chicken legs and let them marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or ideally overnight.

Heat a generous amount of vegetable oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Carefully lower the chicken legs into the hot oil and fry until golden and fully cooked. This should take about 10–15 minutes on each side, depending on their size. Once cooked, set the chicken aside on kitchen paper to drain any excess oil.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger, then fry until fragrant. Add the salted egg yolks and cook, stirring continuously, until it becomes a creamy, emulsified sauce.

Add the curry leaves and chillies (if using), then stir for a further minute. Pour in the evaporated milk, then mix in the sugar and white pepper. Stir until the sauce becomes thick and creamy.

Once the sauce is ready, add the fried chicken and toss in the sauce until each piece is well coated. Serve hot, garnished with additional curry leaves, if desired.