 |
| Cooking chicken satay |
I am not exactly sure where this all time favourite originated from, but have an inkling its from Indonesia. Satay is one of my favourite "treats" when I was growing up in Malaysia.
Satay is marinated sliced meat grilled or we bbq it till it is a bit charred and served with a spicy peanut sauce. Most times Satay can be found eaten with compressed rice aka ketupat and fresh cucumber together with spanish onions.
 |
| Satay ala Sim |
There are all kinds of satay, Thai, Indo, Malaysian etc, but if you've never had the real stuff, then you will fall in love with the succulent taste of Satay ala Sim supposedly "one of my specialities". As much as I like to eat it, making it is quite time consuming. After cutting up the meat ie: chicken, beef or pork (some street hawkers in Malaysia even use "spare parts" aka offal) choice is of personal preference and I guess you can just about satay anything under the sun!!! There is the marinating process, and then to skewer them onto bamboo sticks. Making the peanut sauce, everything is made from scratch. I like to use raw peanuts and roast them in their skin myself before slowly husking the peanuts by tossing it up and down in my tray and blowing it in the air and watch the skin fly away and then pound or grind it down in my blender. I do not use peanut butter!!!!
 |
| Satay sauce |
 |
| Ingredients |
Growing up, we used to eat satay more at supper time, as the satayman will come on his motorbike right to your doorstep. My dad loved his food (I must have got his genes) and back in the days, we eat at least 5 times a day and breakfast is just as heavy as dinner time. Malaysians tend to have noodles, or nasi lemak (fragrant rice made from pandan leaves cooked in coconut milk) for breakfast which is 1000 times heavier than a slice of toasted bread with jam!!!
Back to the Satays ... for us da Choongs, its a great party food which can be made well in advance because its time consuming and doing it alone making big quantities is not much fun. As the satays and the peanut sauce freezes well, so everything can be dragged out of the freezer on party day itself and makes entertaining life a breeze!!!
I do not have exact quantities as I am a "guesstimate type of cook", but here's all the ingredients I use to prepare my chicken satays. I recommend you Google a proper recipe to get a rough idea on quantities and method and compare my ingredients with theirs and in this way, you will get the best of both worlds!!!
SATAY ala SIM MARINADE
Cumin, coriander, turmeric, pepper, stair aniseed, clove, cinnamon, fennel, lemongrass, nutmeg, sugar, soya sauce, garlic salt and full cream milk.
Mix all the spices together and marinate in enough full cream milk to cover all the meat, but ensure you don't drown the meat in it!!!
SATAY ala SIM PEANUT SAUCE
Shallots, garlic, lemongrass, dried chillies, galangal, cinnamon, coriander, fennel, blachan, tamarind pulp, coconut milk, sugar, roasted peanuts, oil,
For the peanut sauce, you blend all the ingredients together and fry it in the oil till it separates, then add in the tamarind pulp, coconut milk, sugar and salt and crushed peanuts last.
NOTE: Beware that the tamarind pulp might be way too sour, so add it in slowly and taste as you go. Also, it might be best you fry the ingredients till dry first before you start adding the oil, so there is less splattering!!!
I do not have exact quantities as I am a "guesstimate type of cook", but here's all the ingredients I use to prepare my chicken satays. I recommend you Google a proper recipe to get a rough idea on quantities and method and compare my ingredients with theirs and in this way, you will get the best of both worlds!!!
SATAY ala SIM MARINADE
Cumin, coriander, turmeric, pepper, stair aniseed, clove, cinnamon, fennel, lemongrass, nutmeg, sugar, soya sauce, garlic salt and full cream milk.
Mix all the spices together and marinate in enough full cream milk to cover all the meat, but ensure you don't drown the meat in it!!!
SATAY ala SIM PEANUT SAUCE
Shallots, garlic, lemongrass, dried chillies, galangal, cinnamon, coriander, fennel, blachan, tamarind pulp, coconut milk, sugar, roasted peanuts, oil,
For the peanut sauce, you blend all the ingredients together and fry it in the oil till it separates, then add in the tamarind pulp, coconut milk, sugar and salt and crushed peanuts last.
NOTE: Beware that the tamarind pulp might be way too sour, so add it in slowly and taste as you go. Also, it might be best you fry the ingredients till dry first before you start adding the oil, so there is less splattering!!!
Last but not least I reckon the secret to a yummilicious stick of satay lies in the cooking technique!!! Make sure your Satayman knows how to cook the satays. My Satayman has well over 35 years of experience. We started making satays back in the student days living in the UK where satays were not on the restaurant menu and when you could find it, it was either expensive or not authentic or both and that is how we started making our own satay. Some times when we had the craving and felt "homesick" we would even make satay in the middle of winter!!!
 |
| The Satayman back in 1984!!!! |
 |
| I spy with my eyes .. satay sticks to left on table |
often to ensure they do not burn and dry out and in between, he bases it with a mixture of oil and water and uses lemongrass cut at the ends as his brush for basting the satays!!!
If you have not found the ultimate satay skewers yet especially if you are living in a foreign land like us, have a crack at making your own. Like me, living in Melbourne, you might be surprised yours might turn out tasting way better than what you can find in the local restaurants. Satay is a food that never goes out of fashion with the old or young, and is a party favourite with all my family and friends.
 |
| 30yrs on - satay is still being served!!! |
 |
| Satay ala Sim seems to rock Ann's world!!! |
No comments:
Post a Comment