Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Chicken Skewers have become popular as a catering dish, showing up at weddings and meetings everywhere. Here is the original dish from Indonesia. You can cut the chicken into chunks or strips. Chunks work better if you will be eating with chopsticks, while strips look a little better. If I use chicken breasts I cut them into strips and if I use chicken thighs I cut them into chunks.
Be careful to not overcook the chicken – it’s very easy to do since the chicken is cut into smaller pieces. So it would work best for the rest of your meal to be ready first and you hold it, and then finish the chicken, checking frequently for internal temp and not going past 150 degrees.
For the peanut sauce, many recipes call for chunky peanut butter but I prefer smooth. Your going to process the sauce anyhow, and your going to garnish with crushed peanuts anyhow, so you might as well start with smooth.
These skewers are delicious served over Nasi Goreng Indonesian Fried Rice.
Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Halves, or 8-12 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup of crushed peanuts for garnish
- Sliced onion greens for garnish
- For the Marinade
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- juice of 1 lime (2 Tbsp)
- 1 Tbsp peanut oil
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 Tbsp Oriental 5 spice
- 1 tsp pepper (black, red, or hot sauce)
- For the Peanut Sauce
- 1 Tbsp peanut or neutral oil
- The whites of 5-6 green onions, sliced thin (save the greens for garnish)
- Garlic, 2 cloves minced
- ~8 oz of coconut milk
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter
- 3 Tbsp kecap manis, or make your own with the following:
- 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce,
- 1.5 Tbsp brown sugar,
- 1 tsp molasses,
- 1 tsp Oriental 5 Spice
- 1-2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1-2 tsp hot sauce
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breast into strips or the chicken thighs into bite size chunks that can be easily slipped onto a skewer.
- Combine the ingredients for the marinade, marinate the chicken for 2-6 hours.
- Soak the skewers while the chicken marinates.
- Make the Peanut Sauce while the chicken marinates:
- Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil.
- Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Blend or process until smooth.
- Grill the chicken over medium heat until done, do not overcook!
- Plate the skewers on a serving dish and drizzle with the peanut sauce.
- Garnish with crushed peanuts and onion greens.
- Serve with the additional peanut sauce in a bowl on the table.
- This tastes great served over Indonesian rice Nasi Goreng