Malaysian Chicken Satay
Servings 6
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs and thighs (preferred) or 4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
- bamboo skewers soaked in cold water for 2 hours
- 1 cucumber cut into small pieces
- 1 small onion quartered
- oil for basting
Marinade:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 stalks lemongrass white parts only
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 6 shallots peeled
- 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Cut the chicken meat into small cubes.
- Blend the marinade ingredients in a food processor. Add in a little water if needed.
- Marinate the chicken pieces for 6 hours, or best overnight.
- Thread a few pieces of the chicken meat onto the bamboo skewers.
- Grill for about 2-3 minutes on each side until nicely charred. Baste and brush with some oil while grilling.
- Serve hot with the fresh cucumber pieces and onions.
Notes
From: Raya Malaysia
(For the dipping sauce, she also has a satay peanut sauce recipe.)
If using chicken breasts, I would reduce the count to 2, or about 2 lbs, for the same amount of marinade above. This should serve about 4 individuals for a meal (more as an appetizer). If you’d like to use 4 breasts, I would recommend doubling the marinade.
Due to the turmeric, the marinade may stain. It should come out of most dishes with a good scrub (I had to run my food processor through the dishwasher), but I would recommend using a glass bowl - or bag that you’ll discard after - just to be on the safe side. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and store in the fridge until you’re ready to grill. If you care about the appearance of your nails, I would also recommend wearing gloves while putting the chicken onto the skewers. The tips of my nails were yellow for several days no matter how many times I scrubbed them.