Texas Chicken’s collab with Chef Bob brings ayam percik to the fast-food front — here’s what to try, and why it matters

If you’re a Texas Chicken fan, or love a good ayam percik dish, this limited-time menu is worth checking out.

Just a month after its Daebak Crunch launch, Texas Chicken returns with a new collaboration — this time with popular chef, TV personality, and entrepreneur Shahrizal Salleh (otherwise known as Chef Bob) — and a menu built around the beloved Malay ayam percik dish.

The line-up is available from now till May 13.

The face behind the collab

Chef Bob is a familiar name in Singapore’s food scene, and is known for championing Malay cuisine. 

Over the years, he’s launched concepts such as cafe-bistro 9yards and food stall Bobmi, often taking familiar dishes and making them more approachable. He’s also collaborated with Good Old Days, then the only halal-certified food court in Sentosa. 

His latest venture is Rahsia Bidadari, a community-rooted kopitiam still in its soft launch phase. It brings together multiple stalls under one roof, with a focus on making halal food more accessible in the area.

Some would recognise him from his appearances on Mediacorp and the Asian Food Channel, where his easygoing and friendly personality stands out. 

Beyond TV, he has authored a cookbook and built a strong online following, sharing food, travel and everyday moments with his touch of humour.

What is ayam percik?

Ayam percik is a classic Malay dish — chicken marinated in spices such as turmeric, chilli and lemongrass, then finished with a coconut-based gravy. It’s known for that mix of smokiness, creaminess, and slight heat.

The name already hints at how it’s made. “The term percik means to splash,” Chef Bob says — referring to the basting of sauce over the chicken, again and again.

Traditionally, it’s grilled over charcoal, often on bamboo skewers, with the sauce brushed on in layers. It’s a slow cook, until you get that lightly smoky, spice-laced finish.

The backbone of it is the rempah paste — a blend of turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, and more, cooked down with coconut milk into a sauce that’s rich and aromatic. 

“The sauce itself is a coconut base with so many flavours,” he says. “Malay cuisine is known for its rempah and its flavours.” 

This is something Chef Bob was particular about, in the tie-up with Texas Chicken — keeping the sauce close to its roots.

This is achieved by using traditional ingredients. “Not the powdered ones, but the real thing. Fresh turmeric, ginger, lemongrass — it’s all in its original form,” he adds.

Instead of the usual charcoal grill, this version also leans on Texas Chicken’s strengths. 

Unlike most fast-food chains, its chicken is chilled rather than frozen, and each piece is dredged on-site. Chef Bob says that it is this double-dredge that gives the meat its signature crunch — a golden crust that holds up even when coated in sauce, while the meat within stays juicy.

While this is a different format from the traditional ayam percik, it’s one that comes with a louder crunch.

The special ayam percik menu

Chef Bob ayam percik chicken (from S$5.50) pairs Texas Chicken’s signature crispy fried chicken with a basting of ayam percik sauce — rich, aromatic, and with that touch of spice. 

The sauce complements the flavour of the chicken well, while still letting its crunch come through.

The chicken combo includes two pieces of ayam percik chicken, a mashed potato, a butter biscuit, and a Sjora lychee berry drink.

Chef Bob ayam percik tenders (from S$8.50) were my favourite, purely for its ayam percik gravy. The three tenders are perfect vehicles for the sauce, which is sweet, savoury, lightly spiced, and deeply addictive, reminiscent of something home-cooked. 

With rice, it becomes a proper meal.

The tenders combo (S$11.50) comes with the three-piece tenders and its ayam percik gravy, mashed potatoes, butter biscuit, and a Sjora lychee berry.

If you’re craving a burger, the Chef Bob ayam percik burger (S$7.50) introduces the sauce into a burger format. Though I personally prefer it paired with rice, it’s interesting, and nonetheless, a delicious take.

The combo (S$10.50) comes with mashed potatoes, butter biscuit, and a Sjora Lychee Berry.

Rice lovers should swap the usual sides for the chicken rice (S$2.80) with sambal. The flavourful rice and sweet sambal adds a certain satisfaction to your ayam percik meal.

If you’re looking for a meal to share, get the buddy combo (S$21.50) that comes with a mix of chicken and a burger, or the chicken box (S$26.50) that is better suited for a group, with six pieces of ayam percik chicken.

Exclusive vest-tote bags

This menu also coincides with Texas Chicken Singapore’s 16th anniversary on April 17. To mark the occasion, the brand will be rolling out limited-edition merchandise. 

The exclusive two-in-one vest-tote bag is a tote bag that doubles as a wearable vest, transforming it with a simple zip. It is designed to be reusable and versatile, comes in blue and white, and will be given away with every Texas Chicken meal purchase, while stocks last.

So, keep your eyes peeled and stomachs empty on this date!

Why ayam percik, and why Texas Chicken?

For Chef Bob, choosing ayam percik as the dish was an intentional choice.

“It’s like a forgotten flavour — a forgotten Malay flavour,” he says. It used to be a staple at Malay stalls and bazaars, and has now slowly faded from the everyday spotlight.

Chef Bob has long been an advocate for the Malay cuisine, and finds great importance in passing these flavours on to younger generations — starting with his own son. “Without tradition, we don’t have our identity,” he says.

“Right now, the younger generation would rather eat something non-local, something western, rather than their own traditional food.”

“It’s good to have this opportunity… to bring back the forgotten flavour on the commercial stage,” he says.

Texas Chicken, he points out, “reaches everywhere”. It can take something nostalgic and traditional, and put it back into one’s daily reach — something you can just walk in and try.

And it was all about balance: Putting ayam percik sauce onto Texas fried chicken without losing either of its essence. 

It took about four months of R&D, with the team initially testing variations such as ayam balado (fried chicken in sambal paste) and salai (smoked meat), before landing on ayam percik — and it was ultimately a unanimous choice.

Perhaps, more than anything, this collaboration uses a bigger platform to bring something familiar — or maybe forgotten — back into conversation.

This was a hosted tasting.

For more ideas on fast food-related eats, read on KFC’s collab with Samyang Buldak Carbonara and McDonald’s new Grimace Shake and burgers.