Satay Ayam

There are probably 1001 reasons why I love Bali. One of those is her delicious satays . The other reason is  the sweetish, rich, sometimes spicy peanut sauce that's usually served with it . It's summer here in Germany and I'm getting all melancholic thinking about our good times and the good foods in Bali. Grilling some Satay Ayam or chicken skewers somehow consoles me, plus it tasted mighty fine too. 

Recipe is from a book, The World of Satay,  I bought at  Denpasar International airport. So far, I'm happy with the result. There are about 100 satay recipes in here and I promise to give most if not all, a try. Did I ever mention I love Balinese satays?!

You need:

600 g chicken breast, cut into thin wide strips

A Spice paste

-2 red chilis, cleaned and seeded, if you like it hot, add more . Original recipe says, 7!

-1 big red onion or 8 small shallots

- 4 cloves of garlic

- 1 tbsp of mashed lemongrass, or 1 stalk

- 1 tsp. turmeric powder

- a thumb sized ginger root, peeled and grated

- 2 1/2 tbsp cooking oil

- 2 tbsp- toasted grated coconut ( I used desiccated) 

B Spice

- 2 tbsp coriander powder

- 1 tsbp tamarind paste

- 2 tbsp. palm sugar

- 100 ml coconut milk

- 125 ml water

- 1 1/4 tsp salz

Peanut sauce

• 3 dried chilli ( soaked in water), you add more if you prefer it spicier
• 8 shallots
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 candle nuts
• 1/3 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 300 ml water
• 175 toasted crushed peanuts
• 3 tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp tamarind paste

Got everything? Now let's make some satays!

1. Put A spice except the toasted  coconut in a food processor or blender. Give it a few pulses until it becomes a paste. If you want to do it the authentic Balinese way, grind the ingredients using a mortar and pestle .Heat oil in the pan. Sauté A Spice paste until paste lumps together leaving oil around it.

2. Stir in B Spice. Bring mixture to a soft boil. Keep stirring then lower the heat. Add toasted coconut . Take out from the heat and cool marinade completely. Yup, it's just a marinade. A yummy, aromatic marinade you could almost pour over some hot rice or toast and eat.

3. Make peanut sauce. Using food processor , blender or mortar and pestle, ground together chili, shallots, garlic, candle nuts, turmeric  coriander and cumin powder. Sauté ground spices till oil separates. Add  water and bring mixture to a boil. Stir in toasted ground peanuts, sugar, salt and tamarind paste. Remove from heat. Lick the spoon when no one's watching.

4. Combine chicken pieces and marinade until each piece of meat is well coated. Cover with a cling film and refrigerate for about 2 to 3 hours. And keep your paws off the peanut sauce! Thread meat onto skewers and grill once you're done waiting. 

Serve with peanut sauce , compressed rice and cucumber salad  or your favourite green salad.

We had wonderful Sunday. It was sunny but not hot so we ate outside, soaking up some sunshine and ultraviolet rays. Aside from the Indonesian Satay, I also grilled some pork skewers, Filipino style and served it with the typical soy sauce -lime sawsawan ( dipping sauce). Guess which BBQ plate got stolen by aliens, it practically disappeared before my eyes ?