Challenging myself : Daring Cooks' January Challenge Thai-inspired Chicken Satay

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

I must say that I had Satay a few times, a few ways. This version was new to me.

As it is with most new recipes I will have to work, to make it more fitting for our taste buds, but this one has potential.   

Cuppy was kind enough to not only give us the receipt for the Satay we were also given a recipe for a Peanut Sauce.

On to the challenge, we don`t eat much Pork, we just don`t like it. So I used chicken breasts. Normally I would have used chicken tights but I was just not in the mood for the longer wait.

The sliced up chicken breast only took 15 minutes to marinate and this time I used to make the Peanut Sauce. I used a double broiler to heat up the Sauce, it`s important to let it not get to hot.

The recipes are pretty easy and most of the ingredients I usually have at home, not that this stopped me from having a little fun in the Asia shop ( 45 Euro to be exact).

It`s not really Thai, it tastes more Indian. One of the twins was running away screaming that he would not eat it. My husband took one bite and mumbled that it was not so bad, but he would not eat it.

So the younger one of the twins and I shared them. He liked the chicken a lot, but the sauce had too much chili so I did not let him  taste it.

I think the marinade needs a little more salt, which would have been added with the optional fish sauce, I forgot to buy ( only I can buy half of the Asia Shop and forget the reason I was there in the first place).

It was fun, it was nice, will I do it again?

Yes but I would marinade bigger pieces of meat. Add salt. Roast the coriander and cumin in the oil to give it a more powerful ( more Indian ) taste.

Give it a try and take a look at the amazing things all the other Daring Cooks did with this Challenge. You can find pictures and the original Challenge here.

Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay Marinade

 

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)

2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)

1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)

1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)

2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)

1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)

 

Feeling the need to make it more Thai? Try adding a dragon chili, an extra tablespoon of ginger root, and 1 tablespoon (0.5 oz or 15 mls) of fish sauce. (I keep some premature (still green) dragon chili peppers in the freezer for just such an occasion.)

Directions:

1a. Cheater alert: If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.

2a. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.

3a. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

 

 

Faster (cheaper!) marinade:

 

2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (1 oz or 30 mls)

2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)

1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 tsp ginger powder (5 mls)

1 tsp garlic powder (5 mls)

1 tsp cayenne pepper (5 mls)

 

Directions:

1b. Mix well.

2b. Cut pork into 1 inch thick strips (2-2.5 cm thick), any length.

3b. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

 

Cooking Directions (continued):

 

4. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers.

5. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*

6. Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.

 

* If you’re grilling or broiling, you could definitely brush once with extra marinade when you flip the skewers.

Peanut Sauce

 

3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)

4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)

1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)

1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)

1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)

1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

 

1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.

2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.

3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.