Chicken Satay Recipe

This is an authentic chicken satay recipe.

I love chicken satay for its taste and versatility.

You can use this satay recipe as an appetizer or a main course with rice and vegetables.

This recipe shows you how to make the sauce from scratch.

Of course you can always just buy the sauce, but if you want to make it from scratch, here's how.

A bit of a shortcut would be to buy the tamarind sauce instead of the tamarind pulp.

Tamarind is a very distinctive and often used flavoring for Thai and other Asian dishes.

It adds a lovely flavor to chicken satay as well as many other Asian recipes.

I usually keep a bottle of the sauce in my pantry. (I feel I am a bit too lazy or time constrained most times for the raw tamarind.)

Chicken Satay Recipe

Prep time: 35 minutes Cook time: 16 minutes

For the Chicken Satay Marinade:
2 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup shredded coconut
1 green onion, washed and chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
1 lemon rind, grated
pinch of ground cinnamon
6 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken

Satay Sauce:
1/4 cup peanuts
4 shallots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled 6 macadamia, almond or cashew nuts
2 stems lemon grass (optional)
3 tablespoon coconut or peanut oil
2 - 3 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/4 cups coconut milk
Tamarind water made from 1 tablespoon tamarind pulp or dried, soaked in 4 tablespoons hot water and squeezed out
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt to taste
chopped green onion

Pour the boiling water over the coconut. Leave for 15 minutes, then squeeze out. Measure out 1 1/4 cups of the liquid and reserve it. Mix the rest with the marinade ingredients.

Cut the chicken breasts and thighs into small pieces. Marinate the chicken overnight in the refrigerator or at least for several hours. Remove from marinade and thread onto wood or metal skewers.

To make the sauce, toast the peanuts in a hot oven for 2 or 3 minutes. If your peanuts have the skins on rub them off using a dish towel and then grind the nuts for just a few seconds. Do not reduce the nuts to a powder - this would spoil the consistency of the sauce. Grind or pound the onions and garlic and grind or pound the macadamia nuts and lemon grass.

Fry the onion mixture in hot oil, then add the nut and lemon grass paste. Reduce the heat, then add the chili powder and cook for 2 minutes. Add the reserved coconut milk, stirring all the time while. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then reduce the heat and add tamarind water, sugar, salt to taste and peanuts. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes and stir frequently until the sauce thickens.

Broil the chicken skewers for 4 minutes each side under a high heat, then allow to cook for a further 4 minutes each side under a medium heat.

Serve with the satay sauce garnished with the chopped green onion.

Serves 4.