If you order one thing in Kota Bharu that you cannot get quite the same anywhere else, make it ayam percik. It travels well across Malaysia, and you will find versions of it in every state, but Kelantan is where it comes from and the difference shows in the sauce.
What ayam percik actually is
The name gives away the method. Percik means to splash or sprinkle, and that is exactly what the cook does. Chicken is grilled slowly over charcoal, and as it cooks it gets basted again and again with a thick coconut milk gravy until the sauce builds into a layer on the skin and the smoke works its way into the meat.
The gravy is where the state character lives. A Kelantan percik leans creamy and mildly sweet, built on coconut milk with shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, lemongrass, turmeric, dried chilli and a little tamarind for balance. Further south you often meet a redder, spicier, more chilli-forward version. Neither one is wrong. They are simply two different dishes wearing the same name, and it is worth trying the local one on its own terms before deciding which you prefer.
Cooks here usually use chicken on the bone, quartered or butterflied, because the bone keeps the meat from drying out over a long grill. The best pieces come off the fire with slightly blackened edges, a thick sauce that has almost caramelised, and a smell you can follow down the street.
How to eat it
Most stalls serve it with plain white rice or nasi kerabu, cucumber, and extra gravy in a small bag or bowl. Ask for the extra gravy. Locals do.
If you want the full Kelantan plate, order ayam percik alongside nasi kerabu and let the blue rice, herbs, budu and grilled chicken meet on the same plate. It sounds like a lot going on and it works perfectly.
When and where to look
Charcoal grilling is afternoon and evening work, so ayam percik is an evening dish more than a lunch one. The stalls warm up in the late afternoon and are at their best around dusk. Look for it at the night market and medan selera areas around the city, at the roadside stalls that appear along the main roads at the end of the day, and at Ramadan bazaars during the fasting month, when it becomes one of the most in-demand items on the whole row.
Two practical notes. Popular stalls sell out, so going early beats going late. And prices vary by size and cut, so ask before you order rather than after.
Make an evening of it
Hotel Ma’Wa sits in the city centre, close to the old town and an easy walk from the evening food streets, which makes it a good base for exactly this kind of night. Head out when the heat drops, follow the charcoal smoke, and come back full. If you would like a pointer to where our own team eats, just ask at the front desk. They will tell you honestly.
