Chicken Satays and Peanut Sauce

I would like to start off by apologizing for the lack of posts in the last while. Unfortunately, taking care of little Jory has definitely taken a toll on the amount of blogging I am able to do. The little boy is definitely growing fast, and seems to be changing every day *tear*. Being a mom is really hard work!

We had our Full Moon celebration for Jory/hubby's birthday party over the weekend, which forced me and mother in law to hike up our sleeves and make a few things. Hubby actually has a barbecue for his birthday annually, so we just made this celebration a little bigger this year. I love satays, and always order them when we go out for Malaysian food, although it really seems like quite a rip off when there are so few pieces. This is why I was so excited to find a recipe so I could recreate them myself, along with the peanut sauce which is really what makes them so good! Mother in law had a new concept in mind when marinating these satays. She told me to skewer the chicken before marinating them so we would not have to soak the bamboo skewers beforehand. I thought this was a unique concept, but I also thought I probably had to make more of the marinade to be able to cover all the skewers. I'll leave it to you to decide how you would like to marinade if you decide to make these satays.

Adapted from Rasa Malaysia
INGREDIENT:

5 lbs. chicken legs and thighs or chicken breasts (deboned)

Spice Paste:

2 tsp. Coriander
3 stalks Lemongrass or 5 tbsp. ground Lemongrass
8 Shallots (peeled)
5 cloves garlic (peeled)
8 tbsp. cooking oil
2 tsp. Chili powder
3 tsp. Turmeric powder
8 tsp. Kecap Manis
2 tbsp. Oyster Sauce
Bamboo skewers

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the chicken meat into small cubes. Skewer chicken meat and place in a container large enough to hold the marinade along with the chicken skewers.

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 to 12 hours.

Grill for 2 to 3 minutes each side. Serve hot with peanut sauce.

PEANUT SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup dry roasted Peanuts (unsalted)
1 cup Water
2 tbsp. Kecap Manis
3 tbsp. Sugar (palm sugar preferred)
1/8 tsp. 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)
2 tbsp. Fish Sauce

Spice Paste:

6 to 8 Bird's Eye Chilies
3 cloves Garlic
3 Shallots
2 Lemongrass or 4 tbsp. ground Lemongrass
1 inch knob of Galangal
1 tbsp. Coriander powder (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Crush the peanuts coursely with a food processor and set aside.

Chop the spice paste ingredients and blend until fine.

In a small pot, heat oil and fry the spice paste until aromatic and smell spicy.

Add the peanuts, tamarind juice, water, sugar, kecap manis, fish sauce and stir thoroughly. Simmer in low heat while continue stirring for about 3 minutes until the peanut sauce turns smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Serve at room temperature with the satay.