Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

My eldest daughter is rather taken with the chicken satay sticks that you can buy from the supermarket deli. Now, I don’t mean to a food snob, but they are processed chicken with I don’t know what in the marinade. I do buy them for her if she happens to be with me and is mithering me for them. I mean, I feel bad enough that they were 6 and 4 years old when they asked me what the place with the big M outside was because their friends talked about it a lot. Oh, the guilt of parenthood.

So, I got some chicken breasts from the butcher and made these for her yesterday. She liked them, but although she didn’t say it, probably not as much as the ones from the supermarket. Well, her best friend likes the ones from the supermarket too, so I can’t really compete with that, can I?

Anyway, if you aren’t 8 years old and you would like some tasty chicken satay I can thoroughly recommend these. I like the consistency of the peanut sauce – it sticks to the roof of your mouth and is sweet, sour and hot – all good.

To serve 4 greedy people
4 chicken breasts
(NB. The photo above shows 2 chicken breasts)

For the marinade:
1 tsp finely chopped or grated root ginger
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey

For the peanut sauce:

4 spring onions, sliced or 1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped (I remove the seeds to reduce the heat)
1 tsp root ginger, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark brown sugar
4 tbsp water (you can add more if you want a thinner sauce)

If you have some coriander leaves they would be very good sprinkled over the top of the chicken and the peanut sauce.

Method

If you are using wooden skewers, then soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before cooking with them to prevent them catching fire.

Prepare the chicken by removing the skin and cutting into cubes which will fit onto skewers easily.

Place all of the marinade ingredients in a glass or ceramic bowl and mix together well. Add the chicken cubes and cover with the marinade.  Cover with cling film. They need at least 30 minutes in the marinade, otherwise place in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.

I served the peanut sauce at room temperature but you could serve it hot. To make the sauce, fry the onion, ginger, garlic and chilli in a tablespoon of vegetable oil over a high heat, stirring all the time until softened. Take off the heat and add the peanut butter, lemon juice, soy sauce and sugar. Stir well and place over a gentle heat and stir until everything has combined and the sugar has dissolved. Add enough water to get to the consistency that you like.

Thread the chicken cubes onto skewers and grill until cooked through. I cooked them in a griddle pan to sear them and then placed in the roasting oven of the Aga (about 200°c, gas mark 6) to finish off and cook through completely.

Serve with rice, noodles or salad and the peanut sauce.

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22 thoughts on “Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce”

  1. Now this looks good. And I had McDonald’s deprived children too. As adults, two never darken the doors, whereas the middle one takes her children there from time to time. So I went wrong somewhere.

    Please don’t mention your Aga to me. It’s very unkind. I still mourn the fact we can’t have one here.

    1. I fear it will all backfire on me and they will become fast food junkies. They refuse to eat my bread, saying that sliced tastes so much better. Sorry about your Aga envy. I won’t mention it.

    1. Ah yes, cold weather. We have had snow on the ground for a week now – not a regular occurrence here. We are due a big thaw and flooding this weekend. Hey ho! Hope you are wrapping up warm, I love that misty pic through the trees.

  2. It’s always a difficult one with children and especially when we cook from scratch and don’t really want to buy the supermarket ready made. I would eat your chicken satay, I wouldn’t eat the supermarkets though.

  3. I love this post – I never gave my little darling sweets when he was young although we had a short spell when we visited the big M! And he preferred jarred pasta sauce to homemade! 🙂 Changed days now though. Your satay looks delicious!

  4. Yum- this looks so good- and the peanut sauce- can’t wait to sink my teeth into this recipe. Hold to your standards, woman! The little ones will grow up one day and thank you for all of your home cooked deliciousness. Mark my words. 🙂

    1. Thank you Beth, I do hope that you are right. Maybe one day they will eat my food without complaint. The 8 year old is getting better but the 6 year old’s standard response is usually ‘yuck’. Oh well, I will try to take faith in your words.

  5. Talking of big Ms, you probably can’t compete with the monosodium glutamate either. But she will have the most excellent memories of your food in time to come.

  6. I got back from Thailand today. Satay sticks are <50p each and you get a choice of pork, beef or chicken. The chicken ones come in normal breast meat style and also wing, leg, heart, lung and liver forms. All dabbed with a sweet sauce while bbq'ed. Very nice, they were but if I'm making them I think I'll go for your recipe.

    1. Hello VBB! You on holiday? Surely not? I can’t say I fancy the heart, lung or liver satays very much. I imagine they are pretty small mouthfuls though. I might stick with these ones. Hope to see you back to blogging soon. x

  7. These look so good, and simple to make too. I’m sure the things you are denied are the things you crave. We were allowed a small amount of junk food when we were small, though to be honest there wasn’t much choice in ruralish County Durham. The fried egg which came in a round of sausage at the Wimpy bar was a rare and very special treat. Still, the food thing wasn’t quite so bad as my little brother, who, on being denied toy guns, would race into any house we visited shouting ‘Where are the guns? Where are the guns?’ until my parents relented and bought him the tiniest wooden pop gun they could find.

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