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How to cook Satay

Satay is a Singapore hawker favourite of small marinated meat skewers grilled over high heat until charred at the edges, then served with a thick, sweet-spicy peanut sauce, cucumber, onion and compressed rice cakes (ketupat). This home version uses chicken thigh and beef sirloin, and can be cooked in an oven grill or on a stovetop grill pan.

Ingredients

For the meat and marinade

• 500 g boneless, skinless chicken thigh
• 300 g beef sirloin or rump, in one piece
• 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, sliced thinly
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 shallots, peeled
• 2.5 cm fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 cm fresh turmeric, peeled (or 1 tsp ground turmeric)
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground fennel
• 3 tbsp palm sugar (gula melaka), finely chopped, or brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp cooking oil

For the skewers and basting

• 40 bamboo skewers, about 20 cm long
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp honey or sugar syrup
• 1 tbsp lemongrass-marinade liquid or water, to loosen the basting oil

For the peanut sauce

• 200 g raw or roasted unsalted peanuts
• 8 dried chillies, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained
• 4 shallots, peeled
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, sliced
• 2 cm galangal, peeled
• 1 tsp belacan (shrimp paste), toasted
• 4 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 100 ml warm water, strained
• 3 tbsp palm sugar (gula melaka), chopped
• 350 ml water
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste

To serve

• 1 cucumber, cut into bite-size wedges
• 1 red onion, cut into wedges
• 8 pieces ketupat (compressed rice cakes), store-bought, cut into cubes

Steps

1. Soak the skewers30 min
   Submerge the bamboo skewers in a tray of water for at least 30 minutes so they do not burn during grilling.
2. Cut the meat15 min
   Slice the chicken thigh and beef against the grain into thin strips about 2 cm wide, 4 cm long and 0.5 cm thick. Keep chicken and beef in separate bowls and use a separate board and knife for each.
3. Blend the marinade paste5 min
   Blend the lemongrass, garlic, shallots, ginger and turmeric with the oil into a fairly smooth paste. Stir in the coriander, cumin, fennel, palm sugar, salt and soy sauce.
4. Marinate4 hr
   Divide the paste equally between the chicken and the beef and mix well with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, for the deepest flavour.
5. Roast and grind the peanuts10 min
   Dry-roast the peanuts in a frying pan over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, tossing often, until golden and fragrant. Skip this if using roasted peanuts. Cool, then pulse in a food processor until coarse and crumbly, not oily.
6. Blend the chilli paste5 min
   Blend the drained dried chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal and toasted belacan into a smooth paste, adding a splash of water if the blades stall.
7. Fry the sauce base10 min
   Heat 4 tbsp oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Fry the chilli paste for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens slightly, smells toasted and the oil separates and pools at the edges.
8. Simmer the peanut sauce20 min
   Add the ground peanuts, strained tamarind liquid, palm sugar, water and salt. Bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until thick and glossy with a layer of red oil on top. Add a little water if it gets too thick. Taste and adjust sweetness and salt, then keep warm.
9. Thread the skewers20 min
   Thread 3 to 4 pieces of meat tightly onto each skewer, leaving the bottom 5 cm bare as a handle. Keep chicken and beef skewers separate. Mix the basting oil with the honey and 1 tbsp water.
10. Heat the grill10 min
    Preheat the oven grill (top element) to its highest setting for 10 minutes, with a rack placed about 10 cm below the element and a foil-lined tray beneath to catch drips. Alternative: heat a cast-iron grill pan over high heat for 3 minutes until very hot.
11. Grill the first side5 min
    Lay the skewers in a single layer and grill for 4 to 5 minutes until the edges begin to char and the meat releases easily. Wrap exposed skewer tips in a little foil if they start to blacken.
12. Baste and flip5 min
    Brush the top with the basting mixture, turn the skewers over and grill another 3 to 4 minutes. Brush again, flip once more for 1 minute to catch the glaze, and remove when lightly charred in spots.
13. Check doneness
    Cut into a thick piece of chicken: it must be white all through with no pink and clear juices. Beef should be browned outside and no longer raw in the centre. Grill in batches so the skewers are never crowded.
14. Serve
    Pile the hot skewers on a platter with the warm peanut sauce in a bowl, and cucumber, onion wedges and ketupat on the side. Eat straight away while the meat is juicy.

Tips

• Choose chicken thigh rather than breast, as it stays juicy over high heat.
• Slice the meat thinly and evenly so it cooks through before the edges burn.
• Bamboo skewers that are well soaked and have foil on the exposed tips are much less likely to scorch.
• The peanut sauce thickens as it cools; loosen it with a splash of hot water when reheating.
• Make the sauce a day ahead for a rounder flavour; marinated meat also keeps well overnight.

Food safety and allergens

Chicken must be cooked right through with no pink and clear juices, and raw meat and its marinade should never touch cooked skewers or the serving platter. Refrigerate leftover skewers and sauce within 2 hours and eat within 2 days, reheating until piping hot.

Contains: peanuts, shellfish, soy, wheat

Watch it being made

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• How To Make Singaporean Satay And Peanut SauceMunchies · 206,649 views · YouTube

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