Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

My first introduction to Satay was from a friend who spent many years living in Southeast Asia with her husband who was with the U.S. State Department.  I don’t know if the dish originated in Indonesia or Malaysia or Singapore or Thailand or Vietnam—but they lived in all of those places.  I do know that the first restaurant where I had Satay was an Indonesian restaurant in Amsterdam—where it was served as part of their wonderful rice table.
The chicken is good on its own, but really enhanced by the sauce.  The sauce I could eat with a tablespoon but is really great with the chicken.  You can use other meats—I’ve also tried beef, pork and shrimp, which are all good, but the chicken seems to appeal to everyone—even kids—and they like the peanut butter sauce, even though it is spicy (at least mine do…) And it is a good recipe in which to introduce turmeric to the family—it’s a delicious spice that is really good for you because of its anti-inflammatory properties.
This is a nice recipe to do the prep for in the afternoon, and then you can quickly finish it off and serve this as a featured item for hors d’oeurves or as a nice light meat course of a spring or summer dinner.

Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Serves 4

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Inactive Preparation Time:  Up to 4 hours for marinating
Cook Time:  10 minutes

Ingredients for the Marinade:

½ cup light coconut milk
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into long, thin strips (about 1 inch wide)
Bamboo skewers

Ingredients for the Spicy Peanut Sauce

½ cup light coconut milk
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon red curry paste
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Preparation:

To marinate the chicken, combine all of the marinade ingredients into a glass bowl and add the chicken breast strips.  Refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.  Soak the bamboo skewers in water for at least an hour so they won’t burn up on the grill.

Meanwhile prepare the spicy peanut sauce by placing all of the ingredients in a blender and blending until smooth. (The sauce can be made up to a day ahead of time.)

Preheat the grill or a broiler.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and thread onto the bamboo skewers.  Cook on the grill or under the broiler for about 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through.  Serve on the skewers with the spicy peanut sauce for dipping.