Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Chicken Satay with Coconut Rice



Thai food is one of my favorite food "groups". I love the rich, complicated flavors and textures. I always thought that Thai food would be difficult to make, and so I didn't attempt it very often. Then, a few years ago, my husband got me a great Thai food recipe book for Christmas.

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Thai Cooking

It's a fantastic book of simple recipes. There is also a complete dictionary of commonly used Thai ingredients. Today's great recipe comes from this book.

Chicken Satay

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips

For the marinade:
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 in piece of fresh root ginger, finely grated
2 teas Thai fish sauce
2 TB light soy sauce
1 TB honey

**Words about these ingredients: Ginger- you are welcome to use the jarred, marinated ginger as well.
Fish sauce- it sounds odd, and as a hater of all things seafood, I refused to use it for a long time. Then I learned that fish sauce is used to give the food a salty flavor, and is an essential Thai ingredient. It does NOT taste like fish!

For the satay sauce:
6 TB crunchy peanut butter
1 fresh red chili, seeded and finely chopped. (dried chili works as well)
juice of 1 lime
4 TB coconut milk
salt

1. First, make the Marinade. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the chicken strips and mix. Cover and leave for at least 30 minutes in the fridge to marinate.

2. Make the Satay Sauce. Mix all ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth. Check the flavor, and add more lime or salt as needed! I've found that no matter how many times I follow the directions, it tastes slightly different every time. Add ingredients until it meets your tastes! Spoon into a bowl, cover, and set aside.


3. Meanwhile, soak 16 wooden kabob sticks in water to prevent them from burning during cooking.

4. Preheat the grill, or the oven broiler, to high. Drain the sticks, and the chicken. Thread the chicken onto the sticks. You can do as many or as few strips on the sticks as you wish. Grill or broil for 5 minutes on each side, or until chicken is golden brown and cooked through.

Serve immediately with Satay Sauce and coconut rice.

Coconut Rice

1 cup water
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 teas salt
2 TB sugar
2 2/3 cup Jasmine Rice*

*Jasmine rice is amazing. It has a wonderful, nutty taste to it. You can find it in the grocery store, or at oriental markets. To use rice, measure out amount needed in a strainer. Rinse with cool water several times, until all the extra starch is washed off, and the water is clear. (You can also use instant rice if needed)

1. Place the water, coconut milk, salt, and sugar in a large, heavy pan.

2. After rinsing the rice, add to the pan. Cover tightly with a lid, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently, without lifting the lid unnecessarily, for 15-20 minutes, until the rice is tender.

3. Turn off the heat and leave the rice to rest in the pan, still covered with the lid, for a further 5-10 minutes.

4. Gently fluff up the rice grains with a fork before transferring it to a warm serving dish.

We eat this dish with a side of steamed veggies. Enjoy!!

2 comments:

  1. I have never had thai food!! This sounds like a healthy and flavorful dish. I am going to have to try it. Doesnt seem like it would be too bad for calories either :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are a woman after my own heart! I love thai as well. I had the same apprehensions about the fish sauce! Will be making this recipe soon! all your food looks so good!

    ReplyDelete