Holiday Ayo - Taliwang Chicken is a typical food from Taliwang, West Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara.

Physically, Taliwang Chicken looks similar to ordinary grilled or fried chicken, with a chili cover. The taste is sweet and spicy, with leftover shrimp paste.

Taliwang Chicken is made from young free-range chicken with dry red chili, onion, garlic, tomato, fried shrimp paste, kencur, brown sugar, salt and other seasonings.

The age of the chicken used for the main menu should also not be too old. Chickens that have just grown up or have just been separated from their mothers at three or four months of age are best suited for cooking.

This age problem is related to taste. Taliwang Chicken that is still young will taste sweeter without sugar or without the process of becoming tender.

Taliwang Chicken is usually served with warm white rice, plecing kale, a sprinkling of fried onions and fried peanuts.

The appearance of Taliwang Chicken was first during the war between the Selaparang kingdom and the Karangasem kingdom of Bali. At that time troops from the Taliwang kingdom were brought to Lombok to help the Selaparang kingdom make peace with the Karangasem kingdom.

Troops from the Taliwang Kingdom were then stationed in an area called Karang Taliwang. This troop was tasked with approaching the King of Karangasem so that the battle that cost many lives and treasures did not continue. In the troops there are also Islamic religious leaders, cooks and horsemen who all have their respective duties.

It is at this time that the cooks of the Taliwang kingdom are working well. They always prepare delicious dishes for the Taliwang royal troops. One of these dishes is Taliwang Chicken. The cooks make this dish by using the ingredients and spices that are around them.

Over time, troops from the Taliwang and Sasak Lombok tribes mingled with each other. From this assimilation, a new culture emerged, both in socializing and in food processing, which were mutually adapted between the Taliwang troops and the indigenous people of Lombok. And this is where the Taliwang Chicken dish was created.

Currently, Taliwang Chicken culinary has been widely known as a Lombok specialty and its marketing has spread throughout the archipelago, especially in big cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Bali.