Chicken Satay with Sauce and Ketupat

I remember as a kid, my grandmother used to treat me and my family to satay at a restaurant by the sea. I've never been a big fan of satays and even then, I liked the cucumbers better.

A few days ago, my dad came across a satay recipe on the web that seemed authentic to him. Actually he wanted the satay peanut sauce so he can eat it with the ketupat (little cubes of white rice) that he had a hankering for. I figured as long as I'm making the satay peanut sauce, I might as well make the chicken satay as well. The chicken satay was really good. The peanut sauce does not really taste like the sauce I'm used to though. However, it is still good.

The recipes for the Satay Peanut Sauce and Chicken Satay are from Rasa Malaysia and serve 10.


Satay Peanut Sauce
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts (unsalted)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar (palm sugar preferred)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil
1 heaped tamarind pulp (soaked in 1/4 cup water for 15 minutes, squeeze the tamarind pulp for juice and discard the pulp)

Spice Paste:
6-8 dried red chilies (seeded and soaked in warm water)
3 cloves garlic
3 shallots
2 lemon grass (white parts only)
1 inch ginger (galangal preferred)
1 tablespoon coriander powder (optional)

Method:
Crush the peanuts coursely with mortar and pestle or mini food processor and set aside.

Chop the spice paste ingredients and blend until fine. Heat oil and fry the spice paste until aromatic and smell spicy. Add the peanuts, tamarind juice, water, sugar, sweet soy sauce and stir thoroughly. Simmer in low heat while continue stirring for about 3 minutes until the peanut sauce turns smooth. Serve at room temperature with the satay.

Chicken Satay

Ingredients:
4 chicken legs and thighs or 4 chicken breasts (deboned)

Spice Paste:
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
2 stalks lemon grass
6 shallots (peeled)
2 cloves garlic (peeled)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 teaspoon of chili powder
2 teaspoons of turmeric powder (kunyit)
4 teaspoons of sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon of Oyster Sauce
Bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 2 hours to avoid burning)
1 cucumber (skin peeled and cut into small pieces)
5 onions, chopped

Method:
Cut the chicken meat into small cubes. Grind the Spice Paste in a food processor. Add in a little water if needed. Marinate the chicken pieces with the spice paste for 10-12 hours. Thread the meat on to bamboo skewers and grill for 2-3 minutes each side. Serve hot with fresh cucumber pieces, raw onions and ketupat.





I cheated with the ketupat. My dad bought the ready-made variety. Basically, I just had to boil the ketupat for 1-2 hours.


Once it's done, the rice will puff up and turn fluffy. The plastic wrap around it will compress it. I just had to cut the wrap and take out the rice. Then cut the rice into cubes.