I’m a big fan of satay sauce, when done right it’s an absolute delight to eat, but I find that when eating it out in a restaurant or especially from a takeaway, the chances of getting a good one can be pretty hit and miss which is disappointing. When I cook it at home, my two default recipes I use are Nigellas (see below for the link) and one from Jamie Oliver’s 30 minute Meals book. Recently we bought a copy of Rick Steins Far Eastern Odyssey and so I wanted to try out his recipe for Balinese Peanut Sauce. The marinade below is my go to one for marinating chicken, especially for Thai and Malaysian dishes, the coconut milk keeps it lovely and tender, and I love the flavour that the lime leaves give to it. Sometimes I add some fresh ginger or galangal paste, or red chilli paste to the marinade too. The freshness of the cucumber salad keeps the whole dish really light, but you could of course vary what you put in the salad, or serve the dish with some rice if you’d prefer. The peanut sauce was very tasty, but next time I think I’d add even more chillis!!
Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 1 chicken breast, 2 boneless and skinless chicken thighs, all cut into chunks
- 1 red pepper cut into rough pieces
- 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 100 ml coconut milk
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 kaffir lime leaf, shredded
- half a cucumber
- 4 spring onions
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- juice 1 lime
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
For the peanut sauce I used the recipe from Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey Book, but I have also used Nigella’s one which you can find on the internet here if you haven’t got Rick’s book.
Method:
- Firstly, marinate the cucumber for the salad. Peel the cucumber and cut lengthways, then scoop out the seeds and cut into about 5mm thick slices.
- Cover with the caster sugar, rice wine vinegar and tsp of salt and leave to marinate for at least 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile marinate and prepare the chicken, Cut the chicken into cubes and place in a bowl.
- Cover with the coconut milk, sweet soy (kecap manis), black pepper, kaffir lime leaf and garlic and leave for at least 10 minutes, but up to an hour or two if you have time.
- When marinated, thread the chicken on to skewers, alternating each piece with some red pepper.
- Cook the chicken under the grill, turning once or twice. They should take about 12-14 minutes to cook, but you made need to adjust depending on your oven or size of your chicken cubes.
- Prepare the rest of the salad ingredients -finely shredded red chilli, chopped spring onions and place in a separate bowl along with the sesame oil and lime juice. Spoon in the cucumber that has been marinating, along with 1 tbsp of the marinating liquid and stir well.
- Serve along side a small dipping dish of your chosen satay sauce.
Happy eating :)