thai chicken satay
Chicken satay can be a great appetizer or meal. I love it because it’s high protein, full of flavorful, pretty easy to pull together and feels special. It can be served as an appetizer accompanying other Thai dishes. You can serve it alongside vegetables as a meal – we especially like garlic green beans that are fresh and cooked it a screaming hot sauté pan, finished with fresh garlic in the last 30 seconds of cooking. Or you can serve it with rice to add carbohydrates. All are great options. Both sauces – the curry marinade and the peanut dipping sauce are delicious. I usually reserve some of the marinade as a dipping sauce or to drizzle on rice. It’s delicious!
chicken satay with a peanut and a curry dipping sauce
A delicious, protein rich, appetizer that can easily become a meal!
Ingredients
Chicken Skewers
- 8 bamboo skewers
- 1 LB chicken breast, sliced 1/4" thick the long way
- Garnishes: lime wedges, crushed peanuts, cilantro
Yellow Curry Powder
- 4 TSP coriander
- 4 TSP ground tumeric
- 2 TSP cumin
- 1 TSP ground ginger
- 1 TSP ground mustard
- 1 TSP ground fennel seed or anise seed
- 1/2 TSP cinnamon
- 1/2 TSP cardamom
- 1/2 TSP freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 TSP nutmeg
- 1/2 TSP ground clove
- 1/4 TSP cayenne
- heavy pinch of salt
Curry Marinade / Dipping Sauce
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 TBSP yellow curry powder (see above)
- 2 TBSP garlic, minced
- 4 TBSP brown sugar, palm sugar, or honey
- 1 TSP salt
- 4 TSP soy sauce
- 4 TBSP olive oil
- 1/2 cup water
Satay Sauce
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 2 TBSP red curry paste (Thai Kitchen or Maesri are both good)
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 1.5 TBSP brown sugar, palm sugar, or honey
- 1/2 TSP white vinegar
- 1 TSP fish sauce
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
First, soak the bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes. This will prevent them from burning on the grill.
Next, make the yellow curry powder. This is a great curry powder to use across many dishes and reuse the next time you make this recipe, so I've given quantities in excess of what you'll need for this recipe, so that you can store it in your spice drawer and skip this step next time. If you're using any whole seeds, toast them in a hot, dry skillet and then finely grind. I keep an inexpensive blade coffee grinder ($20) that's a dedicated spice grinder. It makes quick work of whole seeds like cumin, fennel or coriander. Otherwise, combine all ingredients and shake well to ensure thoroughly mixed.
Next, make the curry marinade that will double as a marinade and dipping sauce. Mix all of the marinade ingredients together and whisk until well blended. Reserve 1/2 of this for a dipping sauce and the other 1/2 for the marinade. Add the marinade to the chicken and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, but as long as overnight.
Next, make the satay sauce. Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan. Whisk until thoroughly combined and heat over medium heat. Once the sauce thickens, you can remove from the heat. Be sure to serve this warm or at room temperature.
Skewer all of the chicken and grill on medium high for 3-4 minutes per side.
Serve alone as an appetizer, or make it a meal by combining with rice or sauted vegetable of choice.
Notes
Inspired by: Feasting At Home