Malaysian Chicken Satay
Total time is not inclusive of Marination time (4 hours-overnight) .
Deliciously marinated bbq chicken skewers, these satays are hard to resist!
Check out Peanut Sauce Recipe too.
The Recipe Intro includes step by step pictures and Video FOR Malaysian Chicken Satay. Check it out.
Ingredients:
| , cut into thin long strips (You can use thigh or breast meat-1½ × 10 × 1 cm) | 600 gms chicken fillet | |
| lemon grass - to be used as a basting brush | 1 stalk | |
| Oil for basting and grilling (sunflower) | As needed, |
For the Chicken 'Marinade'
| shallots, peeled | 8 | |
| garlic, peeled | 4 large cloves | |
| juicy (young) ginger, peeled | 1 ½ tsp | |
| galangal , peeled (Also knows as lengkuas, laos or blue ginger. If you can not get galangal, use a little extra ginger as substitute) | 1 ½ tsp | |
| turmeric (¾ tsp turmeric powder may be used instead) | 1 tsp fresh | |
| cumin seeds | 1 tsp | |
| fennel seeds | 1 tsp | |
| coriander powder | 2 tsp | |
| Palm Sugar /Gula Melaka - do not use more as the skewers may become too sweet (May be substituted with brown sugar) | 1 ¼ Tbsp | |
| sunflower oil or peanut oil | ¹⁄8 cup | |
| tamarind pulp soaked in ¼ cup hot water for 10 minutes | 1 rounded Tbsp | |
| salt | To taste - |
For Serving:
| Onions cut into squares | As needed, | |
| Sliced Cucumber | As needed, | |
| Satay Peanut Sauce (Sambal Kacang / Bumbu Kacang - pronounced 'Kachaang').Check out my recipe and video. | (One Recipe) |
Other:
| small sized bamboo skewers and charcoal for grilling (You can get the smoky aroma at home even without a BBQ - READ ON) | You will need - |
Method:
- Soak the tamarind in ¼ cup hot water for 10 minutes. Then use a strainer to strain and squeeze out the liquid from the pulp. Use 1 or 1 ½ Tbsp of this strained, thickened liquid tamarind solution for the recipe.
- Heat a small pan. ‘Dry roast’ the cumin and fennel seeds, stirring till they emit a nice aroma and start to crackle. Make sure they don’t get burnt.
- Wash the strips of chicken fillet well. Keep drained
- Add all the ingredients for the marinade EXCEPT the Tamarind Solution to a small mixer/blender or food processor. Don’t forget the oil and salt as well.
- Process/ Grind to a smooth paste.
- To a large bowl, add the chicken.
- Add the tamarind solution to the ground paste and add to the chicken.
- Rub well into the chicken to coat completely.
- Marinate in a covered container in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight if possible.
- Cut off the hard base of the lemongrass stalk and then crush/ bruise the bulb portion using a pestle or back of a knife. This forms the lemongrass stalk into a brush-like utensil. We will use this to baste the chicken with oil while grilling. It adds a nice aroma.
- Soak the skewers in cool water till time to grill, so that they do not burn or break while grilling.
- Prepare the peanut sauce for satay before it’s time to grill.
- Thread the chicken strips onto the skewers. Use a twisting and pleating action then scrunch together to secure onto the skewer.
- Brush with lemongrass dipped in oil and place over hot charcoal. (wait till the coals are white).
- Or at home, you can get the same charcoal effect like this: Before threading the marinated chicken, place the chicken in a large bowl with a small steel cup/tumbler placed in the centre of the chicken.
- Heat the charcoal on an open flame till it’s piping RED Hot.
- Immediately place inside the steel tumbler and pour 1 Tbsp of oil over it. As it begins to smoke, quickly cover the bowl and place a weight on top if needed to prevent the smoke from escaping.
- Wait for 10 minutes, till the smoke has died down. The chicken is now, nicely smoked. Continue to skewer as above.
- In a grill pan, drizzle some oil to coat the pan. Bring to moderate heat. Grill on the 1st side around 1-2 minutes, on a low- medium heat and maintain a sizzle.
- Do not disturb, when the bottom is cooked, check to see if it gets released easily with a spatula.
- When you have nice grill marks, turn over and repeat on the other side. Baste with the lemongrass brush dipped in oil.
- Proceed to grill the remaining two narrow sides as well so that the chicken is cooked through (about a minute per side). Gather the skewers closer together so that they don’t fall over. Do not over-grill, Just make sure you no longer see ANY white spots on the chicken.
- Set aside covered in foil till you are done grilling remaining skewers.
- Serve with sliced cucumber, onion, and the satay peanut sauce!
- Enjoy!
Malaysian Chicken Satay
Notes:
- If any of the chicken fillets are too thick, you will want to slice in half, to make them thinner. This helps to cook the skewers more efficiently.
- Some store-bought tamarind pulp has salt added, so add salt accordingly to the marinade
- If you are using a processor, roughly chop your ingredients to assist the blending process.
- Fresh turmeric (root), galangal and palm sugar are recommended for this dish but may be substituted if they are not readily available.
- Careful not to over grill the chicken skewers, they don’t take too long to cook to the centre, overcooking will cause them to dry out and lose flavour.
- At home, you can also put the smoked, marinated chicken under a broiler in the oven instead of cooking in a grill pan, make sure to baste and turn the skewers.
Key Ingredients: Chicken, Shallots, Galangal, Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric, Lemongrass, Tamarind, Palm Sugar, Spices, Salt, Oil
