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The Fire 50 · cook it at home

Chicken satay with peanut sauce

1 hr plus 2 hr marinating · 4 people (about 20 skewers)

Hawker satay is small strips of turmeric-marinated meat grilled fast over charcoal while the cook fans the coals. A grill pan works, but charcoal is worth it here.

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The real one

You need

• 700 g (1 1/2 lb) boneless chicken thighs, cut into thin 2 cm strips
• For the marinade: 2 shallots, 2 garlic cloves, 1 stalk lemongrass (tender part), all chopped
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tsp salt
• For the peanut sauce: 150 g (1 cup) roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
• 1 tbsp red curry paste or sambal
• 200 ml (3/4 cup) coconut milk
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste or lime juice
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• To serve: cucumber chunks, red onion wedges, rice cakes (ketupat) or rice
• 20 bamboo skewers, soaked

How to make it

1. Marinate (10 min, plus 2 hr): Blend the shallots, garlic and lemongrass with the spices, sugar, oil and salt. Coat the chicken and refrigerate 2 hours or up to overnight.
2. Make the sauce (15 min): Simmer the coconut milk with the curry paste for 3 minutes, then stir in the peanuts, tamarind, sugar and salt. Simmer 5 to 8 minutes, stirring, adding water if too thick. Taste for sweet-sour-salty.
3. Skewer (15 min): Thread the strips tightly onto the skewers, about 4 cm of meat per skewer.
4. Grill (6 to 8 min): Over a hot charcoal fire, grill 3 to 4 minutes a side, brushing with a little oil, until charred at the edges and cooked through. In a grill pan, over high heat, the same time.
5. Serve (2 min): Serve with the warm peanut sauce, cucumber, onion and rice cakes.

Tips

• Thin strips cook fast and stay juicy.
• Brush the meat with oil using a lemongrass stalk, as hawkers do.
• The sauce keeps a week in the fridge.

Chef Amazing's own home version of satay, in our words; not any restaurant's recipe.