Chicken Satay with Rice

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I love satay. There's a popular Vietnamese restaurant in the CBD near where I live that does one of the best satays ever (Wollongongites will know which place I'm talking about!). I have no idea how to recreate this awesome authentic satay but I like to think I've come pretty close.

Also, cooking rice... Yeah, you'd think it'd be easy but I'm sure we've all fallen into the trap of stodgy rice. My mum, being Italian, cooks it like you cook pasta, with about 10x more water then rice, boiling, then straining after some time when you determine the rice to be cooked. There's nothing wrong with this, but I've found an easier way that requires less washing up!

1 cup of rice, to 2 cups of cold water in a pot on the stove. 
Bring to boil, stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 12 minutes. 
Once your 12 minute timer has gone off, take it off the heat. Leave to stand, covered, for 5 minutes. There you have it. Perfect rice. Every time.

 You will need...
500gr chicken breast or thigh (whichever you prefer)
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbs minced lemongrass
1 Tbs ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp fish sauce
100ml coconut cream

For the sauce:
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbs ground coriander seed
1 Tbs ground cumin seed
1 Tbs minced lemongrass
1/2 Tbs minced galangal (or ginger)
1 kaffir lime leaf, finely shredded
1/2 tsp chopped coriander root (cleaned well)
340ml coconut cream
2 tbs shaved palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (or a couple of fresh chillies, diced)
1 Tbs peanut butter (salted)
1 Tbs chopped peanuts 
125ml chicken stock
Fresh coriander for serving
cut veggies of your choice, I like carrot, capsicum, snow peas and broccoli.

Method...
1. To marinate the chicken, mince the garlic, add with the lemongrass, spices, fish sauce and coconut.
2. Slice your chicken into strips and place into a bowl with the marinade. Massage the marinade into the chicken, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour (or overnight if you have time)
3. For the sauce, place your garlic, spices, lemongass, galangal/ginger and coriander root into a mortar and pestle, bash them all together to make a relatively smooth paste.  Bring the coconut milk and stock to a simmer on the stove, then mix in the spice paste, the kaffir lime, palm sugar, fish sauce, peanut butter, chopped peanuts and chilli flakes. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until fragrant and thick.

3. To cook, there are 2 options... You can make a stir-fry with the chicken, or skewer the marinated pieces and grill them (traditional satay)

  • If making a stir-fry, heat a little oil in a wok, add the marinated pieces of chicken and seal. Once chicken is sealed, add the satay sauce, turn heat to low, allow to simmer for 5 minutes (until chicken is just cooked) and then add any desired veggies, cook about 5 minutes before you take the pan off the heat so they still have a little crunch to them.
  • If making skewers, soak about 10 bamboo skewers in water for 15 minutes (this prevents the wood from catching fire). Heat a barbecue grill plate or long skillet pan (check the length of the skewers fit into the pan) on medium-high (doing this on a char-grill over hot coals yields the best results). Skewer the chicken pieces, leaving enough room on the end of the skewer to hold, and then place the skewers on the hot grill or pan, turning intermittently to ensure even cooking all the way around. Serve with the satay as a dipping sauce.

4. Serve the satay over rice, with a garnish of fresh chopped coriander leaves and a wedge of lime if desired.


Comments

  1. Taste of America12 March 2015 at 00:24

    This was a really tasty dinner. I only had cheap peanut butter but it still tasted great. A good quality peanut butter would really make this dish sing. A winner in our house


    http://tasteusa.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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