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Kam Heong chicken- an authentic Malaysian recipe with an intense flavor

Today I want to introduce an authentic Malaysian Chinese recipe called Kam Heong chicken (Golden fragrance chicken/甘香鸡).

Kam Heong is a direct translation from the Cantonese dialect 甘香, which means fragrance and aromatic.

Kam Heong chicken is a homegrown recipe created by the local Chinese that uses Chinese and Malay ingredients. It is one of the famous Malaysian Chinese dishes served in the restaurant with a distinctive identity.

You will expect a savory sauce with dried shrimp (mainly used by the Chinese) and spices used in Malay cooking. That contributes to its unique taste.

Kam Heong chicken has a Malaysian flavor with dried shrimp, curry powder, and curry leaves.

No other sauces come close to it, and the closest should be the XO sauce from Hong Kong, minus the curry flavor.

Due to its intense savory flavor, the Kam Heong sauce is perfect for any meat and seafood and is best served with white rice.

Let’s get into the details of how to prepare Kam Heong chicken.

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Kam Heong chicken has a Malaysian flavor with dried shrimp, curry powder, and curry leaves.

1. Prepare the aromatic Kam Heong sauce

Kam Heong Chicken is a very easy dish to prepare. Its unique taste is also suitable for cooking seafood and other meat dishes. 

First, we need to prepare the sauce. Here are the steps:

  1. Wash the dried shrimp in water until it is clean, and then soak them in water for 15 to 20 minutes to rehydrate them. Drain in a colander and pat dry with a paper towel.
  2. I coarsely chopped the bird’s eye chilies, red onion, and garlic. Bird’s eye chili is pretty spicy but also provides a unique flavor. If you can’t take the heat, remove the seeds instead of reducing the number because less chili means less flavor.
  3. Heat the vegetable oil in the wok to medium. Saute the garlic and onion over low to medium heat until aromatic.
  4. Add the dried shrimp, bird’s eye chilies, and curry leaves and saute until automatic.
  5. Combine the Malaysian curry powder, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, and dark soy sauce with water in a small bowl to form a curry paste.
  6. Add the curry paste to the wok.
  7. Continue to cook over low to medium heat until all the water has evaporated.

The Kam Heong sauce is now ready, and you can use it to flavor the chicken or any other seafood of your choice. For example, some popular dishes prepared using this sauce are Kam Heong Lala (stir-fried clams with Kam Heong sauce) and crabs.

About curry leaf

  • Curry leaf is a common ingredient in Indian cooking. It is available in every market and grocery store here. 
  • You can use the dried curry leaves to make the sauce if the fresh leaves are unavailable. There’s only a marginal difference in taste if you use the dry versus the fresh leaves.
  • On the other hand, if you have lots of fresh curry leaves, you can store them in an airtight container in the freezer. It can last for several months.
This  chicken has a Malaysian flavor with dried shrimp, curry powder, and curry leaves.

2. Marinate, then roast the chicken

The second part of the recipe is to marinate and roast the chicken pieces in the oven.

When working in the restaurant, I deep-fried the skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, Malaysia’s most commonly used chicken cut. As an alternative, you can use chicken breast without the skin. 

Deep-frying is the most efficient way to cook bone-in chicken. However, it requires more oil and is potentially less healthy.  Therefore, I prefer to roast the chicken instead of deep-frying at home. Roasting is an excellent way to cook bone-in chicken. After roasting, the cooked chicken will eventually combine with the Kam Heong sauce in the later stage before serving.

Steps to cook the chicken:

  1. Cut the bone-in, skin-on chicken into 2 inches chunks. Season it with light soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch, and oil.
  2. Marinate the chicken for an hour before roasting.
  3. Preheat the oven to 185°C/355°F.
  4. Rub some oil on the chicken pieces to prevent them from drying out during roasting.
  5. Roast the chicken for thirty minutes or until golden brown, then set aside when it is done.
  6. Still-fry the chicken pieces with the Kam Heong sauce in a pan for half a minute to ensure each piece has absorbed and is covered with the sauce.
  7. Dish out and garnish it with curry leaves to serve.
This chicken has a Malaysian flavor with dried shrimp, curry powder, and curry leaves.

3. Other Malaysian Chinese recipes for you:

If you like this recipe, I have a few more similar recipes on this blog for you:

  • Ayam goreng is the best fried chicken that I have ever tasted. This is the typical Malaysian-style fried chicken. The secret is to marinate the chicken with yogurt.
  • Marmite chicken is deep-fried chicken coated with a sauce made with Marmite. Although Marmite is traditionally used as a spread for bread, this is a creative way of using it in a chicken dish. Try it!
Yield: 3 servings

Kam Heong chicken

Kam Heong chicken recipe square

Kam Heong chicken has a Malaysian flavor with dried shrimp, curry powder, and curry leaves. No other flavor comes close to it!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients A

Ingredients B

Ingredients C

  • 500 g bone-in chicken, cut into 2-inch chunks
  • 2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 2 tsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Instructions

The sauce

  1. Soak the dried shrimp in water for 15 to 20 minutes to rehydrate them. Drain in a colander and pat dry with a paper towel.
  2. Chopped the bird's eye chilies, red onion, and garlic coarsely.
  3. Saute the garlic and onion over low to medium heat with vegetable oil until aromatic.
  4. Add the dried shrimp, bird's eye chilies, and curry leaves and continue to saute until automatic.
  5. Add Ingredients B to the wok.
  6. Continue to cook over low to medium heat until all the water has evaporated.

The chicken

  1. Marinate the chicken with Ingredient C for an hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 185°C/355°F.
  3. Rub some oil on the chicken pieces. 
  4. Roast the chicken for thirty minutes or until golden brown.
  5. Still-fry the chicken pieces with the Kam Heong sauce until each piece has absorbed and is covered with the sauce.
  6. Dish out and garnish it with curry leaves to serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

3

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1236Total Fat: 84gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 52gCholesterol: 289mgSodium: 3163mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 4gSugar: 9gProtein: 81g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix on 4/11/2022

KY

Tuesday 15th of November 2022

Thanks for your website- such a great resource, especially for someone like me living abroad now, but who never learnt to cook when living in Malaysia.

Can I ask, if I am frying the chicken instead of using the oven, how long should I fry the chicken for?

KP Kwan

Wednesday 16th of November 2022

I used to deep fry the chicken for about four to five minutes. The size of the chicken I used was about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.

Jessie van Treijen

Tuesday 8th of November 2022

Hi, sorry but I have to rectify your mistake. Curry leaves are not Malay but Indian. When you write something please check the background first. Indian cuisines have been around for more than 3000 years and for you to make this type of silly mistakes only going to offend the Indians.

KP Kwan

Tuesday 8th of November 2022

Thank you. Corrected :)

KP Kwan

Saturday 5th of November 2022

Hi, this is KP Kwan. I am happy to see you in this comment area, as you have read through my recipe. I am glad to reply to any questions and comments as soon as possible.

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