Chicken Satay with SunButter “Peanut” Sauce

Is it just me or does 2014 seem to be passing at warp speed?  Maisie’s 9th birthday has come and gone, Halloween with our adorable fart-gun-toting minion has passed and today marks the 8 year referral-versary of the first time we laid eyes on a picture of our A-Maisie-ing Maisie, and though Thanksgiving is still over three weeks away, all the stores have decked the isles with all things Christmas.  Today is also Secret Recipe Club reveal day!  This month for SRC we were assigned Jess’ blog, Inquiring Chef.  Jess, her husband and adorable 6 month old twin girls live in Bangkok so her blog is filled with the sights, sounds and recipes of Thailand…and other interesting travels and tastes too!  I’ll bet that time is flying for Jess too as it was just a few months back, when her cutie-patootie girls were just a mere 6 weeks old, that she cooked from our blog, making one of Maisie’s favorite treats, Oatmeal, Cashew & Chocolate Granola Bars. 

We here in the Cook Lisa Cook home adore Thai food so there were dozens of recipes that we wanted to make.  Many of Jess’ recipes, though a bit different, mirrored ones that we’ve already made. Jess has a Tom Yam Gung (Spicy Prawn Soup) similar but different to my Tom Yam Ghoong (Spicy Shrimp Soup), My Red Curry Chicken is almost identical to Jess’ Red Curry Salmon (going to have to try this as we adore Red Curry Chicken and know it would be delicious on salmon!)  Then there are the variations on another soup, my Thai Chicken Noodle Soup and Jess’ Thai Style Chicken Noodle Soup.  We both also enjoy tasty drinks with Jess’ Mango Lassi and my slightly spicier Mango Lassi.  How we would love to live and eat at Jess’s home as there were so many other delicious looking and sounding recipes which totally enticed us.  We looked at making Jess’ Thai Chili Eggplant, Thai Shrimp Salad, and her Thai Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps and we really must try making some Nam Prik Pao instead of always buying it.  Oh, and don’t her Chocolate Banana Tarts just look divine!!  In the end we decided to make one of our favorite treats, which we’ve never made at home, Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce.

I of course made a couple of changes to Jess’ recipe to put it more inline with our dietary restrictions, the most notable was using SunButter in place of peanut butter.  Our other small changes included, replacing the sugar with a whole Medjool date, subbing Coconut Aminos for the soy sauce and roasted cashews for the peanuts.  Jess presented her Chicken Satay with two dipping sauces but we chose to omit her Sweet & Tart Thai Dipping Sauce, though delicious, it’s predominantly sugar so better for us to avoid.  Following Jess’ recipe was easy and the taste was… well, I was going to say just as good, but honestly it was SO much better than any Chicken Satay we’ve had previously.  All of us gobbled the chicken and sauce up with the only complaint being that we all wanted more!  A couple of notes if you plan to make this at home.  Sometimes finding fresh galangal and fresh turmeric can be difficult so when we do find it, we purchase extra, wash and dry it, and store it in a sealed bags in the freezer.  Then when needed for a recipe we easily grate it right from frozen.  If you can’t find galangal feel free to substitute fresh ginger and if needed, dried turmeric for fresh.   

Chicken Satay with SunButter “Peanut” Sauce  (Adapted from here)

Chicken:

• 2 small skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 8 oz.)
• 1 lemongrass stalk, bottom 2 inches only (discard top green stalk)
• 2 1-inch pieces of fresh turmeric, peeled (substitute 2 tsp. ground turmeric if preferred)
• 2 peels of fresh lime zest
• 1 tsp. fresh grated galangal (or fresh ginger) 
• 1 tsp. ground cumin 
• 1 Medjool date, pit removed  
• 1 TBS. Coconut Aminos 
• 3 TBS. full-fat coconut milk 
• 6 whole roasted cashews

Thinly slice chicken into equal strips, about ¼ inch thick and several inches in length.  Except for the chicken, combine all the remaining ingredients in a food processor  and pulse until mixture becomes a paste and only small pieces of the ingredients remain. Transfer the paste to a bowl and add the chicken, stirring to evenly coat. Refrigerate and allow the chicken to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 5 hours.

Thread a bamboo skewer through each piece of chicken. Grill the chicken skewers on an outdoor grill or a grill pan, until cooked through. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce, recipe below.

SunButter “Peanut” Sauce:

• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk, divided
• 2 Medjool dates, pits removed 
• 1/2 cup finely crushed roasted cashews
• 2 TBS. tamarind paste  
• 1 TBS. plus 2 tsp. Coconut Aminos 
• 1/4 tsp. curry powder (I used “hot” but mild works too) 
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

In a blender, place 1/4 cup of the coconut milk and add the Medjool dates, process to a smooth paste.  Heat the remaining 3/4 cup of coconut milk until boiling, stirring continuously to prevent it from boiling over, and allow it to boil for 1 minute.  Reduce the heat to a low simmer  Add the coconut milk/date mixture and all remaining sauce ingredients. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Enjoy!!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Asian Pork Chops 
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

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