Satay of course is originally an Indonesian/Malay dish, but it has been in Southern Thailand for a very long time.
Here we demonstrate two versions, Version 1 is our favorite and one you can make in your kitchen without a charcoal grill. The chicken in both versions is prepared as you'd find in Thailand -- using thin strips, instead of thick cuts that restaurants outside of Thailand often serve for satay.
For a quick satay we suggest our Lobo Thailand's ready-made package.
You can of course also make the same recipe as beef satay, pork satay, or prawn satay (large prawns usually deheaded and the skewer threaded lengthwise down the body).
For 4 Person(s)
Mix coconut milk, turmeric powder, sugar and soy sauce in a bowl, add chicken, marinade for 1 hour. You can thread the chicken onto satay sticks now, or cook the chicken first and thread it onto the sticks later (as we did). Cook the chicken over low heat, using all the marinade to baste as it cooks.
Pound the fried red onion in a mortar and pestle, set aside. Pound peanuts in a mortar and pestle, and set aside.
In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and fry red curry paste together with the pounded red onion and chile powder over medium heat, until fragrant. Add peanut, palm sugar, tamarind, salt, and stir. Add coconut milk, reduce heat, and keep at a high simmer until oil rises (this oil comes from the coconut milk, and it will look distinctive as shown in photo).
Serve as shown, with chicken on skewers accompanied by a bowl of satay sauce, and a bowl of ajad (see below).
Beat the chicken flat, using the flat of the blade of a heavy cleaver or a meat tenderizing mallet. You can also use a rolling pin.
The coriander and cumin are toasted then crushed in a mortar and pestle. The ingredients are then combined to form a marinade, and the chicken is marinated overnight. The pieces of chicken are then threaded on the satay sticks, loosely folding them in half and piercing through the folded meat to form a loose gather.
The completed sticks are then grilled, broiled or barbequed on fairly high heat (they taste best done over charcoal, as they absorb the smoke). Turn them regularly and brush them liberally with the remaining marinade. Cooking should take between 5 and 10 minutes depending on the heat of your cooker.
First grind or crush the peanuts to a fairly fine powder. Then combine them with the remaining ingredients (except the lime juice), to form a smooth sauce. If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it with a littlechicken stock. Now add the lime juice, tasting as you progress to check the balance of flavors is correct.
Note use red curry paste with beef or pork satay, massaman (as above) with chicken. If you are doing shrimp satay then use half the quantity of massaman paste.
Combine the ingredients, and leave to stand overnight. Alternatively, you can gently heat the vinegar, add 4 tablespoons water, let it cool, then pour that over the other ingredients and serve right away.
Each diner should have a small bowl of nam jim and a small bowl of a jad. However the satay themselves are normally served "communally". We like to eat steamed jasmine rice that has a few spoonfulls of the Peanut Sauce on top.