Asian Chicken Satay

This has to be one of my all time favorite BBQ recipes, probably because it reminds me of visiting family in Malaysia where in my opinion they make the BEST satay. The lovely thing is that every region has their own take on it, some don’t cook the marinade first, some peoples peanut sauce are darker as they use different sugars like gula melaka. It really all depends on what ingredients are readily available in each different region. The mixture of spices marinade the meat to perfection and you can use chicken, beef, lamb, pork or even make a vegan version with some fried tofu. I tried that the other day and it was delicious. You can make the marinade ahead of time and it will keep for a week in the fridge. You just can’t beat some meat on a stick, bursting with Asian flavors and served with a peanut sauce. What a great combo. I also highly recommend cooking this over some real charcoal as it adds so much more to the authentic Asian street food flavor. (It still tastes good cooked on a griddle pan in the kitchen though, I’ve tried it!)

Ingredients: Serves 4 people

Satay Marinade:

  • 500g / 5 chicken thighs

  • 6 shallots or 1 brown onion

  • 1 tsp chilli powder

  • 3 tsp ground coriander

  • 2 tsp ground cumin

  • 1 tsp turmeric

  • 2 tsp fennel seeds

  • 3 cloves of garlic

  • 2 tsp salt

  • Juice of 1/2 lemon

  • 1 heaped tbsp brown sugar

  • Peanut or sunflower oil

Peanut Sauce:

  • 200g or 1 ½ cups salted, roasted peanuts

  • 1 tbsp Satay marinade

  • 100ml of coconut milk

  • 2 tbsp brown sugar

  • Juice of 1 lemon.

  • (Chilli flakes if you want it spicy)

  • 1 tbsp drak soy sauce

Cooking Equipment:

  • Blender

  • Frying pan

  • Saucepan

  • Griddle pan / or cook on BBQ

  • Wooden skewer sticks soaked in water

 

Method for Satay:

To make the marinade for the meat, simply add the shallots (onions), garlic, spices, chilli and salt into a blender and whiz until it is all finely ground.  Add a dash of oil to help it blend better.

Heat a frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil and add the ground paste, cook until it’s turned to a darker brown color stirring all the time.  Add the juice of ½ a lemon and 1 tbsp of brown sugar and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Leave to cool.

Slice the chicken into long, thin slices and put in a large bowl.  Put one tablespoon of the cooked marinade in a separate bowl to save for the peanut sauce.  Add the rest of the marinade to the meat, mix it in and make sure all the meat is covered.  Leave in the fridge over night preferably, or minimum 2 hours.  Then thread meat onto your skewers and cook it on the BBQ or a griddle pan.  Turn a few times to make sure it doesn’t burn and all sides and thoroughly cooked through.  The flavour from a charcoal BBQ is much better though.

Note:  if using bamboo skewers, soak them in water overnight.  This helps to stop them from splitting and also burning so easily on the BBQ. Also wear hand gloves if you have them to stop your hands from turning yellow from the marinade.

Vegetarian alternative, marinade some vegetables like, aubergine, onions, peppers, and also some fried tofu or bean curd is very nice with this, and it can be put on a skewer.

Method for Peanut Sauce:

Grind the peanuts in a blender until they are fairly smooth, leaving a few chunky bits is good.  Then heat a little oil and add the reserved tablespoon of satay marinade you kept aside, then add all the other ingredients to a pan and gently heat and stir together.  You can add more coconut milk or water if it is too thick.  Give it a taste, if you like it sweeter- add more sugar, sour – add more lemon, hotter – add more chilli.  Make it your own!

 

 

Asian, BBQ, Entree, Dinnercaroline artissComment