Skip to content
Cook BalineseCOOKBALINESE

Recipe

Ayam betutu

A whole chicken rubbed and stuffed with fried base genep, wrapped in banana leaf, and steamed or baked until the meat falls from the bone. A slow cook, not a three-hour class dish.

By Chef Wayan Suryana, Warung Tumang BaliLast updated

Serves 4 to 6 servings·Prep 30 minutes·Cook 3 hours

Cook Ayam betutu with Chef Wayan in Petulu, about 10 minutes from central Ubud, depending on traffic. Check datesHow the class runs

Ayam betutu in short

Ayam betutu is a whole chicken rubbed and stuffed with fried base genep, wrapped in banana leaf, and steamed or baked at a low heat for about 3 hours until the leg joint gives. The paste in the leaf is the sauce.

A Petulu class table with sate, banana-leaf pepes, sambal bowls, canang sari, krupuk, and coconut curry, from the Petulu class where ayam betutu is cooked
Satay sticks, roasted peanuts, and grilled meat on a banana leaf in Petulu, from the Petulu class where ayam betutu is cooked

Ayam betutu is chicken cooked inside banana leaf with a heavy coat of spice paste. The meat should pull from the bone. The paste is fried base genep, the same grind as sate and kare, used in a quantity that would drown a wok dish.

This is not kare ayam. Kare simmers pieces in coconut milk on the stove in about half an hour. Betutu is a wrapped bird that needs hours. A Petulu class morning is too short to start a betutu from raw and serve it at lunch. Grind the paste in class if you like, then cook the bird at home, or start it early the day you want to eat it.

Ayam betutu ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, about 1.2kg, patted dry
  • 8 tablespoons fried base genep
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, bruised
  • 4 lime leaves
  • 2 salam leaves, if you have them
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • Banana leaves, wilted over a flame so they bend
  • Kitchen twine or leaf strips, to tie

How to make ayam betutu

  1. Mix the fried base genep with salt and coconut oil. Rub the chicken inside and out. Push paste under the breast skin where you can, and put the lemongrass and leaves in the cavity.
  2. Soften the banana leaves over a flame until glossy. Wrap the bird tightly in two or three layers so the paste cannot leak. Tie the parcel.
  3. Steam over a steady simmer for about 3 hours, or bake the parcel at 160°C for the same time, sitting in a little water so the leaf does not scorch dry. Turn the parcel once if you are steaming.
  4. The chicken is done when a leg joint gives and the juices run clear. Rest 15 minutes in the leaf, then open at the table.
  5. Serve with rice and sambal. The paste in the leaf is the sauce. Do not throw it away.

The spice table in Petulu is where the paste comes from. If you want a chicken dish that fits the class clock, cook kare ayam instead. Betutu is the longer use of the same grind.

Ayam betutu questions

Is ayam betutu the same as kare ayam?
No. Kare ayam simmers chicken pieces in coconut milk in about half an hour. Betutu is a wrapped whole bird that needs hours.
Can I cook ayam betutu in a class morning?
Not from raw to the table. A Petulu morning ends around 12:30pm. Grind the paste there, then cook the bird at home, or start it early the day you want to eat it.
Should ayam betutu be steamed or baked?
Both work. Steam over a steady simmer for about 3 hours, or bake the parcel at 160°C for the same time with a little water in the pan.
What do you serve with ayam betutu?
Rice and sambal. Keep the paste that collects in the leaf. That is the sauce.

Cook next from the same kitchen

Book a class in Petulu