Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

 

Erin, Bill and I made these February 6, 2022 to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Instead of Satay with skewers we all decided to turn this into a stir fry for the sake of convenience. I think it would have looked magnificent on skewers but we were feeling lazy. We find our Asian recipes on The Woks of Life, a beautiful family website with a fabulous selection of recipes and information.

For the Chicken:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons oil for the pan

For the Peanut Sauce:

• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2-3 tablespoons hot water (to your desired consistency)
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• 1 teaspoon ginger (minced or grated)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce 
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Before you get started, if you’re using bamboo skewers, soak them in a bowl of water for at least an hour––this prevents them from burning during the cooking process!

Combine the coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, red curry paste, curry powder, sugar, and lime juice. Taste the marinate before you add the chicken and adjust the seasoning to your liking. I added a pinch more sugar. Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes. You can also let it sit overnight if you want to do this in advance!

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the sauce by combining the peanut butter, hot water, lime juice, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil. If you want it saltier, you can add more soy sauce or fish sauce.

Skewer the chicken (4-7 pieces of chicken per skewer depending on the length).

You can cook the skewers on the grill or in a skillet set over medium-high with 2 tablespoons of oil. Make sure to let your skillet preheat first, and when you add the chicken, turn down the heat to medium or medium-low if it’s browning too fast. Cook the chicken evenly for about 10-12 minutes, turning it until golden on all sides. Because the chicken is irregularly-sized on the skewers, take care to make sure it’s cooked through. I used my left-over marinade to pour over my vegetable stir-fry. 

We served this with Soy Butter Glazed King Oyster Mushrooms with the peanut sauce as a dipping sauce. The flavours all worked incredibly well together.