Coconut Curry Chicken Satay

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Satay (or sate) is basically your generally Southeast Asian grilled skewer or kabob, prepared in a variety of ways throughout the region, and often served with a dipping sauce on the side.

I pulled my influences from Thai and Vietnamese cuisines to come up with this version which includes a little coconut milk in the marinade, which can either help chicken breast meat retain moisture or soften the slightly stronger and gamier flavor of dark meat, depending on which you use.

Now, you will not hear me talking about the upsides of chicken breast meat too often, but one upside of using breast meat in this application is that it cooks very quickly, and when you have lots of skewers to cook for a crowd, it speeds up the cooking time by about a third.

This recipe serves 8 to 10 as appetizers (about 30 skewers) and is easily halved.

Coconut Curry Chicken Satay

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x @cook_5886383

Satay (or sate) is basically your generally Southeast Asian grilled skewer or kabob, prepared in a variety of ways throughout the region, and often served with a dipping sauce on the side.

I pulled my influences from Thai and Vietnamese cuisines to come up with this version which includes a little coconut milk in the marinade, which can either help chicken breast meat retain moisture or soften the slightly stronger and gamier flavor of dark meat, depending on which you use.

Now, you will not hear me talking about the upsides of chicken breast meat too often, but one upside of using breast meat in this application is that it cooks very quickly, and when you have lots of skewers to cook for a crowd, it speeds up the cooking time by about a third.

This recipe serves 8 to 10 as appetizers (about 30 skewers) and is easily halved.
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Ingredients

See notes above
  1. 40skewers soaked ideally overnight, but at least 6 hours or so
  2. 4 poundsboneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh meat cut into roughly 1/3-inch thick, 1.5-inch wide strips
  3. 1-1.5 teaspoonskosher salt
  4. 1/3 cupcoconut milk
  5. 1/4 cupminced shallots
  6. 3 Tablespoonspacked brown sugar
  7. 2 Tablespoonsfish sauce
  8. 2 Tablespoonsoil
  9. zest of 1 lime
  10. 1.5-2 Tablespoonsfresh lime juice
  11. 1 Tablespoonminced garlic (about 2 large cloves)
  12. 1/2 Tablespooncurry powder

Cooking Instructions

  1. 1

    In a large mixing bowl, combine the chicken strips with the salt first and give them a good thorough mixing with your hands to ensure that the chicken is evenly seasoned with the salt. Let that sit for about 5 minutes while add the other ingredients into the bowl.

  2. 2

    Combine the rest of the marinade ingredients with the salted chicken and again, using your hands, massage the ingredients gently and thoroughly into the chicken, making sure that all the components are evenly distributed throughout the chicken.

    A picture of step 2 of Coconut Curry Chicken Satay.
  3. 3

    Cover the chicken and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 8. (What will happen if you marinate it longer? Well, it won't be terrible, but the longer proteins sit in a salty mixture, the more cured a texture they begin to take on. You can actually let this marinade go for 2 or 3 days before you cook the chicken, but I think up to 8 hours for chicken breast keeps optimal texture. Up to overnight for dark meat.)

  4. 4

    Skewer the chicken in roughly 6-inch segments. This may take combining 2 or more pieces together. No biggie. Also, if you're planning to cook the chicken over coals right after you skewer, right before Step 4 would be a good time to light your coals.

  5. 5

    Grill the skewers over slightly lower than medium heat. 3 to 4.5 minutes per side for breast meat, 5.5 to 7 minutes per side for dark meat.

    A picture of step 5 of Coconut Curry Chicken Satay.
  6. 6

    GRILLING TIPS: If you're grilling on a gas grill, you just need to preheat your grill to a just under medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes prior to cooking. If you're grilling with coals, since you're dealing with smaller, thinner skewer cuts, you'll want to make sure to give your coals plenty of time for the flames to burn out and then a little time for the white heat to dissipate just a bit before you start cooking.

  7. 7

    GRILLING TIPS (cont): You'll be able to tell when some of the coals have returned to something more like the original charcoal color. And then there's always the hand test (assuming an even spread of the coals) in which you hold your hand an inch or two above the grill grates and judge the temp by how long you can hold it there before you have to pull it away. For the slightly less than medium heat you want for these satay skewers, 4 to 5 seconds should do it.

  8. 8

    Enjoy! :)

    A picture of step 8 of Coconut Curry Chicken Satay.
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