Satay

This month’s Daring Cooks challenge was chosen by cuppy of cuppylicious. The challenge was to make one of our favourite street foods - satay. Cuppy gave us a bunch of options - there were different marinades, different sauces, and different proteins to use. Lots of decisions!

We decided to use the more complex marinade because it contained many of our favourite thai ingredients (with the odd surprise or three). For the sauce we used her peanut sauce (which was brilliant!). For the protein we used beef because we were eating pork and chicken already this week (well, we also had two small pieces of chicken breast so I tossed that into a separate bag with some of the marinade).

This was an easy version of satay to make. Yes, it was different than other satay that we have had but frankly, every time we have satay it tastes different! If you're looking for a solid recipe with which to expand your culinary horizons you won't go wrong with this one!

Thanks cuppy!

Satay Marinade

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)
1 pound of beef (16 oz or 450g)

Place all of the ingredients (except the meat) in a food processor and process until smooth.

Cut meat into 1 inch strips.

Place the meat and marinade into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

Feeling the need to make it more Thai? Try adding a dragon chili, an extra tablespoon of ginger root, and 1 tablespoon (0.5 oz or 15 mls) of fish sauce.

Marinate up to 24 hours.

If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers.

Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*

Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.

Peanut Sauce

3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)
4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.

Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.

All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.