Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Find the original Food-4Tots page here.
My family and I love satay. Whenever we want to eat satay, we will usually head to Kajang, a small town 25km from Kuala Lumpur where our favourite satay stall is located. As it is too far from our place, we only visit it once in a while. Nevertheless, I have figured out a way to fix our satay craving, and that’s making my own satay!!
Making authentic Malaysian satay with peanut dipping sauce is a very tedious process which I dread to follow. Hence, an easy and simple version will definitely be a better choice for me. For that, I use ground spices and store bought peanut butter to make the sauce instead of making them from scratch. I have also chosen common ingredients that can be easily found in the supermarket. Usually coconut milk is added to make the peanut sauce, but I skip it for this recipe. Even then, the taste of the sauce is surprisingly good! It has a balance of salty, sweet and spicy flavour. My hubby said that it tasted better than the one I shared earlier.
With all these short-cuts, I have successfully recreated a hassle-free chicken satay and peanut sauce at home! YAY!!! Even though the taste still can’t beat our favourite satay, it has far exceeded my family’s expectation. The meat is so flavourful and succulent that you can even eat it on its own but the peanut sauce will make a perfect companion.
I cooked my satay on a grilled pan but an outdoor charcoal grill would be ideal. If you don’t have any of them, you can still pan fry it first and then broil in the oven.
This recipe is not just easy to follow but it also allows you to prepare some tasks ahead of time such as marinating the chicken and making the peanut sauce. The actual cooking time only requires about 15 minutes and they are ready to serve.
These chicken satays make great appetizer for parties and potlucks! The peanut sauce can be served as a dip to encourage your kids to eat more vegetables.
Note: Peanut is one of the most common food allergies. Hence, this recipe is not recommended for kid below 3 years old (age as recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics), kid who has a family history of allergies or kid who has had a food allergy in the past. If you want to introduce peanuts to your child, please consult your pediatrician for further advice.
Recipe for the Chicken Satay
Yield: 10 sticks
Ingredients for Chicken Satay
Steps
- Soak satay skewers in water for at least 30 minutes. This is to prevent them from burning or charred during grilling.
- Wash and pat dry chicken fillet. Remove the white tendon and cut into bite size about 2cm cube.
- Pound lemongrass, garlic and shallots with a pestle and mortar or with a food processor until fine. Transfer to a small bowl and combine with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, turmeric powder, brown sugar, honey, pepper and oil.
- Add the chicken pieces to the marinade to mix until well coated. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
- When ready to cook, thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers. Discard any excess marinade.
- Preheat a grill pan over medium heat. Lightly brush it, as well as the chicken satay with oil. Cook the chicken satay for about 3 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your chicken. Or, you can broil them in an oven using the grill function.
- Serve with cucumber, onion and peanut satay sauce.
Notes
- You can also use skinless and boneless chicken breast or thigh.
- For lemongrass, discard the outer layer, cut off the upper green stalk and use only the tender inner white bulb.
- If you don’t have a grill, you can cook them on a frying pan until lightly brown and finish off by baking in the oven.
Recipe for the Peanut Sauce
Adapted from Food-4Tots Peanut Satay Sauce
Yield: 1 rice bowl
Ingredients
Steps
- Put all the ingredients (A) in a food processor and process until it becomes paste.
- Heat oil in a skillet or frying pan under low heat. Sauté the spice paste (from step 1) until it’s fragrant and a bit of oil will rise to the top.
- Add in seasonings (A) and stir until well combined. Bring it to a boil, and then simmer the mixture in low heat until it is thickened. Stir occasionally to avoid the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Adjust taste with seasonings (B).
- The sauce is ready for serving.
Notes
- If you want a kid-friendly version, adjust the amount of red chilli as you like or omit it totally.
- If you want to make your own peanut butter or your own peanuts, you can refer to this post.
- After the sauce has cooled down, there will be a thin layer of oil rising to the surface of the sauce. It can be removed without affecting the taste of this sauce. But leaving some behind will prevent the sauce from turning dry.