Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satays are a widely eaten grilled skewer in Southeast Asia. It is often sold by street food vendors, and the peanut sauce is a must! This recipe works well with pork or cubes of tofu, too.

  • Prep time:30 minutes
  • Marinating time: 2 hour
  • Barbecue or broil time: 7 minutes
  • Makes: 2 servings for dinner or 4 as an appetizer with ½ cup (125 mL) sauce

Ingredients

Chicken

1 lb (500 g) skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp (5 mL) brown sugar
¾ tsp (4 mL) each ground cumin and ground coriander
½ tsp (2 mL) each turmeric and salt
Generous grinding of pepper
1 lemon, peel finely grated
¼ cup (60 mL) chopped shallots
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch (2.5 cm) peeled and chopped ginger
3 tbsp (45 mL) peanut or vegetable oil

Peanut sauce

½ cup (125 mL) peanut butter
2 tbsp (30 mL) each soy sauce, lime juice and hot Chinese chili garlic sauce
2 tsp (10 mL) brown sugar

Directions

Chicken
Thinly slice chicken into long thin strips. Place in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, stir sugar with spices, salt and pepper. Add to chicken and stir to evenly coat.

Place lemon peel, shallots, garlic and ginger in a food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped. Drizzle in oil to form a paste. Stir paste with chicken to coat. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.

Peanut sauce
Place all sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. If sauce is too thick, stir in 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 mL) hot water and adjust heat level to taste. Sauce will keep well at room temperature overnight or refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat barbecue to high. Thread chicken onto skewers. Grill, turning halfway through, 7 to 8 minutes. It should be nicely charred and cooked through. Serve with peanut sauce.

Nutrition

Per serving (½ of recipe): 860 calories, 55 g fat (10 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 115 mg cholesterol, 1990 mg sodium, 35 g carbohydrate, 6 g fibre, 15 g sugars, 62 g protein