Satay Chicken - What they didn't tell you (Recipe)

I spent many many many years trying to figure out why my chicken satay recipes ended up all wrong - basically every cookbook I had from Thailand tended to overcomplicate things, listing every damn ingredient that was in the dish but failing to mention that most of these ingredients were actually part of a different product, e.g. red curry paste.

This is ridiculously annoying - basically all Thai cookbooks omit either a huge step in the method for making dishes or they forget to mention that you need a particular kind of ingredient. This recipe I finally cracked with the help of some sleuthing and experimentation which over 20 different satay recipes.

Essentially, chicken satay is a common street food in Thailand which is prepared over hot coals by vendors in the street. I absolutely love it done this way, the marinade thickens out and sludges up wonderfully. Having had my BBQ season interrupted by thunderstorms, I decided eventually to make this at home using a grill pan.



Ingredients

1. 500g chicken diced into cubes or sliced thinly against the grain
2. Wooden skewers (soaked for at least 10 minutes in water)
3. 1 jar of peanut butter
4. 1 tablespoon of red curry paste
5. Juice of half a lime
6. 1 tablespoon fish sauce
7. 2 tablesoons of soy sauce (light is better)
8. 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
9. 3 shallots (minced)
10. 1 heaped tablespoon to 2 of curry powder
11. half to a full can of coconut milk

Method

Many methods call for the ingredients to be mixed over medium heat in a pan, in my experience, this makes the oil seep out of the peanut butter and give it a horrible grainy texture which does not look very appetising. I recommend using gloves to make this mix as you may find yourself with yellow fingers for about a week!

1. Mix peanut butter with coconut milk, set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, marinade the chicken with the garlic, shallots, soy sauce and fish sauce, curry powder, lime juice and red curry paste.

3. Allow the chicken to marinade for about 30 mins to an hour.

4. Mix in the peanut sauce mixture and allow to marinade. Over night is best. Make sure the mixture is VERY well mixed.

5. Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers and cooking on low to medium heat until the chicken is firm to the touch. Do not worry about the peanut butter catching fire (if on a BBQ) too much, just remove them from the flame and carry on, turning frequently. If the chicken is not firm to the touch, it isn't done - don't fret about the burn marks either, just have some marinade or peanut sauce (even chilli) sauce handy.