It’s a lazy Sunday. I didn’t play golf. I’m suffering from golfer’s elbow. I didn’t hit the ball right. I hit the ground a lot before my club hit the ball, and now my elbow hurts like hell. That’s the price of not being a good golfer. It looks so easy when I saw professional golfers hit their balls on TV, it is really a very difficult thing to learn to swing the club right. I’m resting at home today. I started my cooking early. I made chicken on a stick for lunch and ate some of the leftover Singapore Noodles that I made last night. I’ve been thinking about chicken on a stick for a while since I watched Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods episode in Japan. He learned how to make the Japanese version of chicken on a stick. I missed this dish too. Instead of the Japanese version, I missed more of the Malaysian chicken on a stick, Chicken Satay that is served with peanut sauce. Every time I had Malaysian food, I would order half a dozen of combo satays (6 sticks) that had 2 beef, 2 chicken and 2 pork. They were served with peanut sauce and pickled cucumber. What a great appetizer to start a meal. YUM.
Put seasoned chicken meat on a stick
Grill chicken on a stick
Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients (Make about 6 sticks):
- Chicken meat, 1 pound (boneless, I used chicken fingers breast meat. You can use thigh meat too)
- Soy sauce, 1 tsp
- Ginger, 3 slices
- Garlic, 1 clove
- Chicken powder, 1 tsp
- Cooking oil, 1 tsp
- Bamboo skewers, about 6 or 7 sticks (or you can use the metal skewers)
Peanut sauce:
- Chunky peanut butter, 1 cup
- Brown sugar, 2 Tbsp
- Hot chili sauce, 1 tsp
- Garlic, 2 cloves, finely chopped
- Honey, 3 Tbsp
- Soy sauce, 1 Tbsp
- Hot water, ½ cup
- Lime, 1
Pickled Cucumber (Optional):
- Cucumber, 1
- Vinegar, 1 Tbsp
- Sugar, 1 Tbsp
- Salt, a dash
- Water, 2 Tbsp
Steps:
- If you are using the bamboo skewers, soak them in water first. They will not get burnt.
- Finely chop 1 clove of garlic and ginger. Put both in a big mixing bowl.
- 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of chicken powder into the bowl.
- Cut chicken into cubes like 1.5 inches. Put the chicken cubes into the mixing bowl. Mix them well with the seasoning. Add a tsp of cooling oil to the mixture. Mix it well. Cover the mixing bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, and let it marinated in the fridge for at least 20 mins. I also tried the lazy person’s version of not cutting the chicken at all, ie just put the whole piece on a stick. They didn’t cook as nice as the ones that are cut. See the picture.
- Prepare the pickled cucumber if you are getting fancy: Peel the cucumber, remove big seeds if there are any. Cut cucumber into small cubes like 2 cm long. Add vinegar, sugar, water, and a pinch of salt to the cucumber. Mix them well. Let it get marinated for at least 20 mins in a refrigerator.
- Prepare the sauce: mix all the sauce ingredients in a small serving bowl. Cut the lime in halves and squeeze the juice in. Mix it well.
- When the chicken is marinated. Put chicken cubes in the skewers.
- Start the grill. Cook the chicken for 5 -7 minutes on one side. Flip it over to cook the other side for another 5-7 minutes or until it is fully cooked.
- Serve hot with the peanut sauce.
Love chinese dishes especially the chicken, fish and meat dishes