Coating Chicken in Red Bumbu Twice, Before the Flames
Each time fat from the chicken skin drips onto the rack, the fire flares for a moment. The smell of garlic, chili and fermented shrimp from the red paste mixes into the smoke, and once the surface has dried, you brush on the bumbu (aromatic paste) again. Ayam taliwang is not grilled chicken with a spicy sauce poured on at the end. It is a dish in which the flavor moves into the chicken partway through cooking and the aroma is seared on at the finish.
Ayam taliwang takes its name from Taliwang in western Sumbawa and is also widely eaten on neighboring Lombok. Indonesia's tourism board describes it as young chicken seasoned with chilies, garlic, tomato, terasi and palm sugar, with the paste brushed on as it grills.
The difficulty in re-creating it elsewhere is not only the heat. Kencur and ginger smell different, and terasi is not a liquid seasoning like fish sauce but a fermented shrimp paste mixed into the paste in small amounts. Whether you use a whole chicken or bone-in thighs, add coconut milk, or replace charcoal with a home broiler changes both the result and the effort.
This recipe uses bone-in thighs: fry the bumbu once, grill the chicken first, simmer it in a coconut milk paste, then grill again. The aim is a fragrant exterior, with heat and fermented savoriness remaining under the skin. For people who are sensitive to heat, reduce the chilies and serve sambal on the side.
The Indonesian word ayam means "chicken." The dish name is written "ayam taliwang" and the aromatic paste is called by its local name, "bumbu."
From Taliwang to Lombok: Regional Differences Preserved in One Plate
Taliwang is a place name in western Sumbawa. The dish became established as a Lombok specialty through the movement of people and ingredients across the strait. At tables today, in Lombok's warung (eateries) and home cooking, it is enjoyed as grilled chicken coated in spicy bumbu with rice and vegetables alongside. What is interesting is that the land the dish's name points to is not necessarily the same as the land where it is eaten every day.
The English page of Indonesia's tourism board also relates a story that it originates with a cook of the 17th-century Taliwang kingdom. This, however, is told as a tradition about the dish. Rather than fixing a single origin from historical sources, it is more accurate to say that the name carries both the place name Taliwang and the table of Lombok.
The bumbu blend varies by region and household. SBS Food's home recipe marinates the chicken in lime and simmers it with dried chilies, bird's-eye chilies, terasi, candlenuts and kencur before grilling. The Culinary Institute of America's teaching material shows butterflying a whole chicken, brushing on the paste and cooking in the oven. The former adapts easily to weeknight cuts; the latter is closer to a celebration dish gathered around one bird.
Compare it with Bali's ayam betutu and the difference is clear. Betutu is a chicken stuffed with aromatic paste, wrapped in leaves and slowly steam-roasted. In taliwang, the heat of the grate and the fragrance of the red bumbu come to the surface. Both are spicy chicken dishes, but whether the aroma is sealed in or layered onto a grilling surface changes where you eat them.
Plecing kangkung, known as a Lombok side dish, pairs boiled water spinach with a tomato and chili sambal. Because watery greens sit beside hot chicken, the heat does not linger in your mouth. At a table outside Indonesia too, simply serving rice and greens with it gets closer to the local way of eating than making only the main spicy.
Ingredients (serves 4): Choose the Core of the Aroma First
Prepare 4 bone-in thighs, 900–1,000 g in total. If using a whole chicken, substitute a young chicken of 900–1,100 g, opened and flattened. A whole bird gives more atmosphere at the table, but measure first whether it fits under your broiler.
Terasi is a fermented shrimp paste. Though it shares the seafood umami of fish sauce, it is not something that adds liquid saltiness. A small amount put into the fried bumbu lets its strong smell blend into the meat's fat and the chili. If you avoid shellfish, use neither terasi nor dried shrimp, and increase the salt slightly.
Kencur is a rhizome similar to ginger but not the same. If you prioritize the local aroma, look for kencur; if you don't want to add to your first shopping trip, replace it with ginger. Candlenuts add body to the paste, so I treat their role as oil rather than texture.
This recipe uses chicken, terasi (which contains shrimp), and nuts. Check the ingredient labels of any substitutes too. Do not reuse cutting boards, knives, plates or brushes that touched raw chicken for cooked food.
The Order for Buying Local Ingredients: Choose Unsweetened Coconut Milk
Coconut milk adds moisture and roundness so the bumbu clings to the chicken. Choose an unsweetened cooking type whose ingredients are mainly coconut and water, not the sweetened dessert kind. The recipe uses 200 ml, so those who will use the rest in curries or braises have a reason to buy a 400 ml can. If you'll make it only once, look for a small size at a nearby import store.
Kencur may not be in the same section as ginger. If you can't find frozen rhizomes or find them at an import store, you can use 15 g ginger and a little lime zest. This substitute, however, is a "stand-in for kencur" and won't give the same aroma. For terasi too, rather than forcing an online purchase, choosing a small packet at an import store where you can read the ingredient label is less likely to leave you with leftovers.
Makrut lime leaf is not a central ingredient of taliwang; it is an optional ingredient that adds a green citrus scent when cooking under a broiler. If you use it, 2 leaves is enough. Buy it only if you can use the rest in Thai soups or Indonesian braises.
You can chop the bumbu finely with a knife, but to turn onion, tomato and nuts into a coarse paste at once, a small food processor suits. Before buying, check the bowl capacity, the number of parts to wash, and whether it can be used with liquids. If the amount to process is only the 120 g or so in this recipe, a knife is enough.
Serving sambal on the side lets everyone around the plate decide their own heat. Compared to increasing the chilies in the bumbu from the start, it is easier to handle in a household with children or people sensitive to heat. If buying it, check the ingredients (chili, garlic, vinegar, salt), the blend and the container size, and decide based on whether you will use it up each time.
Method: Grill First, Simmer in Bumbu, Then Grill Again
Putting the bumbu on the chicken between the two grillings keeps the flavor from staying only on the skin's surface. The first browning is the base of fragrance, cooking in the pan is the time for flavor to move into the meat, and the last grill is the time to dry the red paste.
For a young chicken of 900–1,100 g, open it from the back to flatten and make shallow cuts in the skin. Grill 8 minutes per side the first time, extend the bumbu simmer to 15 minutes, and check the center temperature at the end. If it doesn't fit under the broiler, cook it in a 180°C oven as in the Culinary Institute of America material, and move it to the broiler only for the finish.
How to Bring Heat and Flavor Back: Three Kinds of Failure
Ayam taliwang is not a dish that is fixed by adding heat. If moisture remains in the bumbu the aroma blurs, and if you suddenly put the chicken over high heat only the skin turns black. Use the table to see where the state changed.
| State | Main cause | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| Bumbu is watery | Moisture of tomato and onion, not fried enough | Cook 3–5 minutes more over medium-low heat until a spatula track remains |
| Terasi smell is strong | Added before frying, too much | Next time warm it for 30 seconds first; this time catch it with coconut milk and rice |
| Too spicy | Too many bird's-eye chilies | Don't brush on extra paste; serve greens, rice and coconut milk |
| Too salty | Raised terasi and salt together | Stop adding salt and increase unsalted rice and tomato |
| Only the skin is black | Rack too close to the heat, paste too thick | Cover with foil and check the center temperature over lower heat |
| Center undercooked | Meat thick, simmer too short | Add 10 minutes at a time in a 160°C oven and confirm 75°C for 1 minute |
| Meat is dry | Final grill too long, not rested | Spoon a little juice over and rest 5 minutes; shorten the final grill next time |
Safe doneness cannot be known from the color of the skin or how a skewer goes in. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries advises cooking chicken to the center, with 75°C for at least 1 minute as a guide. FoodSafety.gov also gives a minimum internal temperature of 74°C (165°F) for poultry. This article uses 75°C for 1 minute for margin.
If you don't have a thermometer, cut open the thickest part and check that no red juice remains and the meat has begun to pull away from the bone. However, color is no substitute for a safe temperature. If you plan to make this again, having a poultry thermometer makes judgment steadier.
Bringing a Lombok Table Home: Rice and Greens Catch the Heat
In the dish introduction by Indonesia's tourism board, ayam taliwang is served with rice, plecing kangkung, beberuk terong (a raw eggplant salad) and so on. The SBS Food recipe too builds the plate with grilled chicken, rice, plecing kangkung and beberuk terong. The point of the menu is not to layer another spicy side on spicy chicken but to set the moisture of greens and the acidity of tomato beside it.
At home, rice and plecing kangkung alone are enough to begin with. If you have no water spinach, boil komatsuna or similar greens for 45 seconds and cut into 4 cm lengths. Since the stems are thick, splitting only the thick parts lengthwise lets you chew them at the same time as the leaves. If you serve sambal on the side, you can make plates of different heat from the same chicken.
Lime cuts the fat of the grilled skin. Squeezing it just before eating preserves the fragrance of the paste better than mixing a large amount of acid into the bumbu. Cucumber on the side is not to reproduce the local plate exactly but to let the palate rest once from heat and fat.
Debone leftover chicken and move it to a shallow airtight container with its sauce. Refrigerate after it cools a little and aim to finish within 2 days. When reheating, heat until steam rises through the center; if only the surface is hot, stir or heat in portions by thickness. Grilling stored meat again over high heat dries it out, so spoon on a little sauce before reheating.
Thinking About Substitutions: The Aromas to Keep and the Tools You Can Change
Having every local ingredient is not a requirement for reproducing it. What defines ayam taliwang is grilling the chicken, frying chilies and tomato in oil, the umami of terasi, and finally searing the paste on without scorching it. Use the following substitutions knowing what changes.
| Local ingredient or method | Replacement in a home kitchen | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Whole grilled young chicken | 4 bone-in thighs | Less skin area and less drama at the table |
| Kencur | 15 g ginger + a little lime zest | The earthy, hard aroma moves toward a warm one |
| Terasi | Omit, or dried shrimp | The deep aroma of fermented shrimp weakens |
| Candlenuts | Macadamia nuts | The body of the paste is easy to keep |
| Coconut milk | 100 ml water and 50 g tomato | Less roundness and the edge of the chili comes forward |
| Charcoal | Home broiler | Weaker smoke aroma, easier to adjust distance from the heat |
Kencur is worth buying for people who will cook Indonesian food several times. For one dish, make it with ginger, and look for a frozen pack when you want to try the local aroma. Terasi has a strong smell once opened, so households that use little needn't force a purchase; substitute dried shrimp only when no one has an allergy.
Think about the type and amount of chili separately. Reducing dried red chilies reduces color and sweet aroma too, but dropping only the bird's-eye chilies lowers the sting while keeping the look of the red bumbu. If only one of four people dislikes heat, weakening the bumbu overall and putting sambal at the edge of the plate avoids splitting the table.
FAQ
Q1. Can I make ayam taliwang only with a whole chicken?
You can make it with bone-in thighs. Cut pieces take the bumbu easily and don't depend on the height of your broiler. A whole chicken gives the celebratory look of taliwang, but because there are more thick parts, check the temperature in the same place without changing where you measure.
Q2. Is kencur the same as ginger or galangal?
It is not. Kencur has an earthy, cooling aroma, ginger a warm, pungent one, and galangal a hard, citrus-like one. You can replace kencur with ginger in a taliwang recipe, but the finished aroma changes.
Q3. How can I make the smell of terasi milder?
Keep to the amount and warm it for 30 seconds over low heat before mixing it into the paste. When the raw smell has changed to the smell of grilled shrimp, add it to the fried bumbu. If you dislike the smell, don't force it; replace it with dried shrimp, or omit it and adjust with salt. If you have a shrimp allergy, don't use the dried shrimp substitute either.
Q4. Can I get a fragrant result without charcoal?
You can make it under a broiler. First render the fat from the skin, and after the simmer brush on the bumbu thinly and finish quickly. A thick coat scorches first near the heat, so don't apply a lot at once; grill in two rounds.
Q5. Does it work without coconut milk?
It does. Add 100 ml water and 50 g tomato, and simmer a little longer until the liquid clings to the meat. It tastes lighter than the coconut milk version and the chili's sting comes forward. If you don't want to buy an unsweetened can and have leftovers, you can begin with this variation.
Sources
- Indonesia Travel: Ayam Taliwang (checking Taliwang as a place name, the dish in Lombok, ingredients and how it is grilled. Accessed: 2026-08-29, checked: 2026-08-29)
- Indonesia Travel: Ayam Taliwangg (checking the origin story, accompaniments at the table and how it is eaten. Accessed: 2026-08-29, checked: 2026-08-29)
- SBS Food: Ayam Taliwang (checking cut pieces, terasi, kencur, coconut milk, the simmer-then-grill method and accompaniments. Accessed: 2026-08-29, checked: 2026-08-29)
- Culinary Institute of America: World Cuisines and Cultures—Indonesia and Malaysia (checking the whole chicken, bumbu ingredients and the method of brushing the paste on and cooking in the oven. Accessed: 2026-08-29, checked: 2026-08-29)
- Indonesia Travel: Plecing Kangkung (checking Lombok's water spinach dish and its pairing with ayam taliwang. Accessed: 2026-08-29, checked: 2026-08-29)
- Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Cooking chicken and preventing food poisoning (in Japanese; checking the temperature and time for cooking chicken through to the center and not washing raw meat. Accessed: 2026-08-29, checked: 2026-08-29)
- FoodSafety.gov: Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures (checking the minimum internal temperature for poultry. Accessed: 2026-08-29, checked: 2026-08-29)
