Chicken Satay Recipe with Peanut Sauce

INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN SATAY

• Chicken - To get that traditional chicken satay strips, I use chicken breast. You don't need to worry about the white meat being dry in this recipe because it is cut quite thin and marinated in full-fat coconut cream. You definitely can also use dark meat for this recipe as well - I actually like to use dark meat a lot because it's cheaper and a lot more flavorful.
• Coconut Cream - To get the best flavor, I like to use coconut cream for this recipe. Try to find a full-fat coconut cream with no preservatives if possible. I find the ones without preservatives have the best coconut flavor. If you can't find coconut cream, you can also use coconut milk but look for the full-fat ones. I like to shake my coconut creams/milks cans to find the thickest sounding ones.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk - Instead of sugar, I like to use sweetened condensed milk as the sweetener. It gives the chicken a bit more flavor with a touch of sweetness.
• Turmeric - To give the chicken satay it's well known yellow color, I use a bit of turmeric. Be careful when working with it and wearing light-colored clothing, it does dye clothes!
• Curry Powder - I like to use Madras curry powder for this recipe because I find it has a bit more flavor than the normal yellow curry powders. If you can't find Madras curry powder, you still can substitute it with the standard yellow curry powders as well.
• Fish Sauce - To give the chicken satay it's salty and umami flavors, I use fish sauce. Soy sauce can be used in a pinch but you will definitely miss out on a bit of the flavor that fish sauce gives. I highly recommend using fish sauce if you can find it.
• Onion/Garlic - These 2 ingredients cannot be omitted. They give the chicken a lot of flavors especially after it has been charred on the grill and the onion and garlic have been caramelized.
• Lemongrass - This is another herb you definitely cannot substitute out or omit. It is the base of the chicken satay flavor and it is what makes it unique from other chicken skewer recipes. You can buy this fresh or frozen. Frozen ones usually come pre-ground. Fresh lemongrass needs to be finely chopped by hand or use a food processor. I have used both frozen and fresh for this recipe and they both work great!
• Spices - For the spices, I use a bit of coriander and cumin. Coriander is a hit or miss because of its strong flowery flavor but when paired up with cumin it gives the chicken a lot of wonderful flavors - just make sure not to put a lot of it. I find cumin is a must for this recipe, so try not to omit it.

INGREDIENTS FOR COCONUT CREAM GLAZE 

• Coconut Cream - I like to use coconut cream as the base for the sweet glaze for this chicken satay recipe.
• Honey - To sweeten the glaze, I use honey because I find it mixes into the coconut cream a lot better than sugar does. You can also substitute it for maple syrup as well.
• Fish Sauce - To balance the sweetness, I like to use fish sauce.

MARINATING AND SKEWERING THE CHICKEN

Before you skewer the chicken, make sure you soak the back ends of the skewers in a cup of water if you are using wooden/bamboo skewers so that they don't burn when you grill it.

You don't need to worry too much about soaking the front end of the skewers since they will be covered with chicken satay.

SIMPLE PEANUT SAUCE FOR CHICKEN SATAY

As much as I love meat on sticks, I think the peanut sauce is my favorite part of this chicken satay recipe. I love it so much that I will usually make extra so that I can use the leftover peanut sauce and mix it in with rice noodles the next day for an easy peanut noodle meal. If you have any leftover peanut sauce, you can store it in the fridge for up to a week with no issues as well, if you want to use it to dip other things with it.

• Coconut Cream - For this peanut sauce, definitely use coconut cream if you can find it. I find that coconut cream has a lot more coconut flavor and it tends to be a bit creamier. If you cannot find coconut cream, try to find full-fat coconut milk.
• Peanut Butter - I like to use natural peanut butter with no added sugars or preservatives for this recipe. The kind that the oil separates from the peanut butter, and needs to be stirred. I usually like to stir it once, and store it in the fridge right after - I find that you usually don't need to stir it again once it's been refrigerated.
• Red Curry Paste - This is where a lot of the flavor of the peanut sauce comes from. You can usually find this either at an Asian grocery store or online and it should definitely not be substituted or omitted out.
• Honey - I like to use honey as a sweetener because I find that since it is a liquid it mixes more easily and evenly into the peanut sauce.
• Soy Sauce/Fish Sauce - I usually use soy sauce as the source of sodium and umami flavor for this peanut sauce. You can also use fish sauce in place of soy sauce as well.
• Rice Vinegar - This ingredient gives the peanut sauce a bit of balance between all the flavors. If you cannot find it, you can substitute it with fresh lime juice.
• Water - I use water to thin out my peanut sauce. You can use chicken stock as well if you have it. Tweak the amount you use to how thick or thin you like your peanut sauce. Make sure not to add too much water, or else it might water down the flavors too much.
• Sesame Oil - I like to use sesame oil to add a bit more nuttiness to the peanut sauce.
• Crushed Peanuts - Adding crushed peanuts is completely optional. Add if you like a bit of texture or if you like the way it looks.
• Chili Oil - I like to add a bit of chili oil for the extra garlic/onion flavor. The specific one I always have on hand at home is Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp - it's definitely something that is a staple and adds a lot of extra flavor to noodles and sauces. This is completely optional and can be skipped if you don't have chili oil.

To make crushed peanuts for any of my recipes, I usually like to buy whole peanuts that have already been shelled and skinned. If you have the time and patience to de-shell and skin the peanuts then definitely go for it, but I found that removing the thin skins off of the peanuts was very a very difficult and tedious task so to simplify it I just buy the de-shelled/skinned peanuts. Definitely toast them on a pan before you crush it to bring back the nutty flavor - it also removes the raw/musty flavor as well. Once you toasted it on the pan for a few minutes, use the back of a pan or a rolling pin to crush them.