Chicken Sate / Satay with Peanut Sauce
Recipe byJust to reiterate, sate / satay is the dish, not the peanut sauce.In this recipe for Thai chicken sate / satay, the chicken is marinated in a mixture of coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, Sriracha, garlic, ginger and turmeric.Chicken thighs are ideal for cooking sate / satay. If using breast fillets, I recommend keeping the skin on. Smooth or chunky peanut butter are both okay to use. Personally, I prefer chunky because I enjoy the occasional crunch from the bits of peanut.
Ingredients
Chicken and marinade
- 500 grams chicken fillets (see notes after the recipe)
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha (double the amount for more heat)
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon grated turmeric
Peanut sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (lemon juice is okay but you may need more)
- 2 tablespoons grated palm sugar (dark brown sugar is an okay substitute but the flavor of the sauce will be different)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- ¼ cup unsweetened peanut butter (see notes after the recipe)
- 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
To assemble the chicken sate / satay
- 12 to 15 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 30 minutes if grilling over live charcoal)
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Pound the chicken fillets into uniform thickness then cut into bite size pieces.
- Place the chicken pieces in a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients for the marinade and mix well.
- Cover the bowl and let the chicken soak up the flavors for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Make the peanut dipping sauce
- While the chicken marinates, whisk the lime juice sugar and fish sauce in a microwaveable bowl.
- Add the peanut butter and ginger to the lime-sugar-fish sauce mixture.
- Microwave for 10 seconds on HIGH to soften the peanut butter.
- Stir in the sesame seed oil.
- Taste and add more lime juice, fish sauce or sugar, until you get the balance that pleases you.
Grill the chicken
- Drain the chicken.
- Thread the chicken pieces with the bamboo skewers, three to five pieces per skewer depending on their length.
- Grill the skewered chicken (charcoal is traditional but we did this on a stovetop grill) over medium-high heat, two to four minutes per side depending on the thickness of the meat.
Serve the chicken sate / satay
- Arrange the grilled skewered chicken on a plate and serve with peanut dipping sauce on the side.
Notes
Updated from a post originally published in November 24, 2020