CHEF and blogger Paul James writes for our paper.
I think everyone at some stage has tried satay sticks – whether it’s meat, vegetables or vegan style.
A popular misconception is that the term ‘satay’ is a peanut sauce, traditionally satay referred to grilled skewered meats and is not just solely made for peanut sauce.
However, since the most popular variant of satay is chicken satay in peanut sauce (Sate Madura in Indonesia, Sate Kajang in Malaysia, and Thai chicken satay with peanut sauce) the term satay has long been associated with peanut sauce.
I first tried satay chicken in Holland, it was served on little skewers and a side of peanut sauce, accompanied by the obligatory fries.
Known as saté or sateh, it is fully adapted in Dutch everyday cuisine. This is due mainly to the colonial history with Indonesia.
Now I’m going to try something a little different, but still using chicken, peanuts and sauce but not a skewer in sight.
I’ve searched for various recipes and tried to capture a more Asian fusion dish, eventually after tried and tested samples cooking with my son we came up with this dish – Thai Chicken Satay with potatoes and lime infused rice.
Trust me it works and before I get shot down by the traditional skewer loving brigade take a quick look on the internet where you will find variations of this dish, using all types of meats including a lovely French fusion dish called ‘Cuisses de Grenouilles Poelees au Satay, Chou-fleur Croquant’ which sounds so romantic. Actually it’s sautéed frogs legs in satay sauce with crunchy cauliflower.
So good look finding those ingredients at your local Morrison’s or Sainsbury’s on a Friday night during your ‘big shop’.
But as the world and food evolves you can always rest assure the well known burger joint, with a jolly clown, red hair and even bigger red boots are selling a burger sate in Indonesia.
Visit recipesfrommytravels.com for more on Paul’s blog.
Thai Chicken Satay with potatoes and lime infused rice
Serves 2
Ingredients for the chicken marinade
400g of skinless mini chicken fillets.
1tbsp brown sugar
3tbsp of light soy sauce
2tsp of ginger paste
2tsp of garlic paste
Pinch of chilli flakes
The other ingredients
Zest of 1 lime
8 cooked small new potatoes skins left on.
1 red pepper finely sliced
1 green pepper finely sliced
1 green chilli and 1 red chilli, seeds taken out and sliced
100g of rice.
Ingredients for the satay sauce
1tbsp of light brown sugar
2tbsp of light soy sauce
1tbsp of fresh lime juice
6 to 8tbsp of smooth peanut butter
1tsp of chilli flakes
1tsp of minced garlic
1can of coconut cream (milk if you prefer)
Vegetable oil spray
Method
1. In a bowl add the chicken, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and chilli flakes.
2. Give it a good mix, cover and refrigerate over night. (or at least 2-3 hours)
3, Now for the sauce, heat a large frying pan and give it two sprays of oil.
4. Add the garlic and gently stir for a minute, add the sugar, soy sauce lime juice and chilli flakes. Stir gently until the sugar begins to dissolve.
5. Add the peanut butter, mix and then add a small amount of coconut cream to loosen the mixture.
6. Keep adding the coconut cream until you have the consistency of a sauce. (At this stage you can add more peanut butter and coconut cream if you want to adjust the consistency)
7. Add in the cooked potatoes and gently simmer, stirring occasionally.
8. Now for the rice – in a heated saucepan add a couple of sprays of oil and gently fry the rice with the whole lime (leftover from the zesting and juicing) for a couple of minutes. Add boiling water a pinch of salt and bring to a simmer until cooked. Drain, discard the lime and keep covered.
9. Remove the chicken from the fridge and let it come up to room temperature (about half hour)
10. In a hot frying pan add the marinated chicken and cook, sealing in all of those flavours, add the red and green peppers and keep frying until they start to take in colour and become slightly soft.
11. Then transfer the chicken satay and peppers to the sauce and carry on simmering until the chicken is cooked thoroughly and piping hot.
12. Serve on a warm plate with the rice and a scattering of fresh chilli.
