Ayam Gepok Anakmak 📍 215 Ang Mo Kio ☎️ 89510912

Ayam gepuk craze has been raging in Java Indonesia, Malaysia and now in Singapore. The only ayam gepuk I could find in Singapore, at the moment, is Ayam Gepok Anakmak📍215 Ang Mo Kio, Sinfoodie coffeeshop.

Ayam Gepok Anakmak started as a home based business in 2020.

They were well received (overwhelming actually) and opened this coffeeshop stall at 215 Ang Mo Kio (about 10 minutes walk from AMK MRT station).

Lunch time was busy and today it was a one-woman-operation (their usual crew is at least 3, I believe).

The menu has "original", "berempah" sets and various sides.

Only "original" available today.

Clarified with lady boss that "peanut" sauce is cashew nut sauce.

Five levels of heat. Actually, it is level 0 or all cashew nut sauce to level 4 which is 80% chili. So, it's a matter of different proportioning of chili and cashew nut.

I opted for level 2 as what makes ayam gepuk stand out from say ayam penyet is the cashew nut sauce. At level 2, there's slightly more cashew nut sauce than sambal (chili).

This is the SGD$8.50 original ayam gepuk set. What sets ayam gepuk from ayam penyet is the cashew nut sauce (bottom left) and kobis goreng (fried cabbage) at bottom right.

Served with plain white rice, most people reflexively drizzle sweet savoury dark soy sauce over it.

Ayam Gepok Anakmak serves only fried chicken thigh, so you won't end up with chicken breast (even if you prefer it 😜 ).

The meat was fried till firm, slightly dry today. But, it was well marinated, so there's a slight spice (mainly turmeric) taste and aroma, especially on the browned outside.

But, the cashew nut sauce and sambal changed everything.

The hand ground cashew nut sauce was thick, heavy, grainy, rich, oily, creamy, buttery, nutty and savoury sweet. I actually also like Anakmak's hand ground sambal as it was spicy hot with a bit of sharp garlic taste and smell. The cashew nut sauce and sambal together makes a wonderful blend of flavours.

It transformed the somewhat chewy dry piece of fried chicken thigh.

Kobis goreng or fried cabbage. After trying a few ayam gepuk places, I fell in love with kobis goreng. Crunchy, chewy, juicy, its sweet juices melded well with the sweet savoury soy sauce and toasty taste from caramelisation.