The mere mention of the words “Chicken Satay” to someone who has travelled in Southeast Asia is enough to bring that far away look into their eyes, and for good reason. There has to be something special about a dish that can be found throughout the countries of the region, taking on national and local culinary characteristics on its travels and so often delivering on an incredible taste experience. It is invariably at its best as a street food rather than in a restaurant. Frequently, the Satay vendor’s stall may be providing the income for a whole family, and there is fierce competition for customers from other street food vendor’s. If you want to stay in business then your Satay has to be good, very good. The marinades and peanut sauce are always prepared by hand and closely guarded recipes are the norm in this business rather than the exception! For all the above reasons the chances of you being able to eat Satay of this quality in a restaurant in Southeast Asia, as opposed to a food stall, are small indeed. In the West this is a dish I would never order in a restaurant and when I’ve sampled it if a friend has ordered it, I invariably want to hang my head and cry.
Fortunately, I am rarely without a supply of chicken satay! It is something that I prepare in large quantities, cook and freeze as it keeps wonderfully and is very easy to warm up in an oven when defrosted. It can also be cooked straight from the freezer in a microwave. The Satay sauce can also be frozen in portions to be used when needed. The following recipe makes a large amount and I think is the easiest way to do it, but by all means reduce the quantities to make a smaller amount if you wish.
I love to make this for a barbecue as it is at its best when grilled over charcoal, if you want to do likewise then please make sure you make enough, believe me it will simply vanish!
Chicken Marinade Ingredients.
This will make sufficient marinade for 2kg (4.4 lbs) of chicken. Thighs or breast is up to you but breast is easier to cut and skewer. Coconut Milk 1 can ( Important information on Coconut Milk) Evaporated Milk 1 small can Garlic 10 cloves Lemongrass 2 sticks Coriander (Cilantro US) small bunch 30g or 1oz. Sugar 20g or 1.5 tablespoons Ground Coriander 5g or 1 tsp Ground Cumin 5g or 1 tsp Mild Curry Powder 5g or 1 tsp Turmeric Powder 5g or 1 tsp Salt 10g or 2 tsp Sunflower or Vegetable Oil 30g/1oz/1.5 tablespoons
Satay Sauce Ingredients.
This will make sufficient dipping sauce for the 2kg of chicken used above so adjust accordingly if using a different amount, but bear in mind it freezes easily so it’s worth making the larger quantity. Thai Yellow Curry Paste 1 Pouch Panang Curry Paste 1 Pouch Coconut Milk 2 Cans Roasted Peanuts 300g or 10oz Limes 2 small or 1 medium lime. 100 ml vegetable oil. The 20g or 1 tbs of sugar I forgot to put in the above picture :-)
Making the marinade. Chop the lemongrass and garlic cloves or whizz in a mini food processor if you have one. Add the mixture and the rest of the marinade ingredients to a blender with just enough coconut milk to enable it to blend smoothly at first, then add the rest of the coconut milk.
Slice chicken into sections of approximately 1 inch Cut carefully through a section of chicken, lifting the flap as you go Lay the chicken out as below and cut again
You should now have a piece of chicken similar to the one below. This shows the chicken threaded onto the bamboo skewer. NOTE, the picture is there just to show the technique more clearly, it is better to marinate the chicken first and then skewer as below. Marinade the chicken in the sauce for at least a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge. Soak the bamboo skewers in water to prevent burning. Chop or grind peanuts as below, a mini food processor is ideal for this. Don't over process as we are not looking for peanut powder! Put 100ml of vegetable oil, half a can of Coconut milk, the Yellow paste and Panang paste into a saucepan and bring just to the boil on a low to medium heat, simmer gently for 5 minutes. You can now add the rest of the coconut milk, unless you feel the sauce is quite watery. I don't want to be vague here but the thickness of the coconut milk depends on the brand. Add the chopped peanuts and over a low heat, keep stirring until you see red oil floating to the top. Keep a constant watch on it so it does not burn. If you are using the quantities as above then you will need to add around 200 ml of water to bring the sauce to the right consistency. The brand and thickness of the coconut milk also plays a part here. The sauce needs to be somewhere between thick and thin :-) Add the juice from the squeezed limes and stir. Satay sauce should a little sweet so check the taste and add the sugar if needed as sweetness of coconut milk also varies.
Thread the marinated chicken onto the skewers and you're good to go! The satay can be barbecued, grilled or cooked on a griddle pan so cooking time will depend on the method you use. It's best when it looks a little char-grilled and make sure it is cooked through with no pinkness. Enjoy!
Enjoy!
If you like this recipe please click the star rating or add a comment below! Kop Khun Kha, Nitsa.x
This recipe might look a little more involved than many of my recipes but it is so worth it! You can make the best chicken satay you have ever eaten in your life. Not only that but we are making a large batch of it and this freezes easily. You are not going to get satay of this quality in a restaurant and there are reasons for that, if you want to learn more then go back to the top of the page and read the introduction. This is a two-part recipe. We are making the marinade for the chicken as well as the satay sauce. It’s worth taking a look at the pictures above to give you an idea of how this recipe works.
Finely chop the lemongrass and garlic or whizz in a mini food processor. Add the mixture and the rest of the marinade ingredients to a blender with just enough coconut milk to enable it to blend smoothly at first, then add the rest of the coconut milk. Slice chicken into sections of approximately 1 inch or 2.5 cm. Refer to the pictures above to see how to do this correctly. Marinade the chicken in the sauce for at least a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge. Soak the bamboo skewers in water to prevent burning.
Making the satay sauce
Chop or grind peanuts, a mini food processor is ideal for this. Don’t over process as we are not looking for peanut powder! Put 100ml of sunflower or vegetable oil, half a can of Coconut milk, the Yellow paste and Panang paste into a saucepan and bring just to the boil on a low to medium heat, simmer gently for 5 minutes. You can now add the rest of the coconut milk, unless you feel the sauce is quite watery. I don’t want to be vague here but the thickness of the coconut milk depends on the brand.
Add the chopped peanuts and over a low heat, keep stirring until you see red oil floating to the top. Keep a constant watch on it so it does not burn. If you are using the quantities as above then you will need to add around 200 ml of water to bring the sauce to the right consistency. The brand and thickness of the coconut milk also plays a part here. The sauce needs to be somewhere between thick and thin Add the juice from the squeezed limes and stir. Satay sauce should a little sweet so check the taste and add the sugar if needed as sweetness of coconut milk also varies.
Thread the marinated chicken onto the skewers and you’re good to go!
The satay can be barbecued, grilled or cooked on a griddle pan so cooking time will depend on the method you use. It’s best when it looks a little char-grilled and make sure it is cooked through with no pinkness.
Recipe Note
As always using the “right” type of coconut milk is a game-changer. See here.
Hi – thanks for posting this recipe, it sounds great and I would like to try it. However, I was wondering about what you said about freezing – I guess you freeze the chicken on the skewers after marinating, and then defrost then to cook? And how about the sauce, just divide into small tubs and freeze those individually I guess? Of course I could just experiment and work it out but as someone who has already done it I thought I would ask about your successful methods – thanks! ——— mythaicurry replied: You guessed right Jimmy. Marinate the chicken for a few hours before freezing, make sure it is completely defrosted before cooking. Also divide the sauce into quantities that you are likely to be using. Hope you will enjoy it:-)
Fleur
June 14, 2024
I don’t know whether I am missing something here but how much chicken do I need and how many servings? ——— mythaicurry replied: Hi Fleur,
The recipe states 2 Kg chicken, If you are serving this as a starter then I would say this would make 10 servings. This can vary according to the way you put the chicken on the skewers and how much of it. I hope that helps you to adjust the recipe accordingly.
Diane Knight
January 31, 2021
We had Chicken Satay for starter tonight. You have to invest the time to make it in the two stages but it was so worth it. It was absolutely delicious, the chicken marinade was superb and good for my son whose not keen on peanuts, so could eat it without the sauce. The chicken was so tasty and with the peanut satay sauce it was even better. A real success, as are all the sauces tried so far from Mythaicurry! Thank you
Michelle
May 11, 2018
Satay Heaven
Finally! Moved back to the UK 2 years ago after 8 years in Singapore. Lost count of how many recipes I have attempted trying to recreate the satay I enjoyed so much there. Never got close. Only now have I got it and it is sooo perfect. Subtly different from Singapore satay but I even think I prefer it. This will steal the show at the next bbq:-) Thank you Nitsa!
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Jimmy
March 03, 2025
Hi – thanks for posting this recipe, it sounds great and I would like to try it. However, I was wondering about what you said about freezing – I guess you freeze the chicken on the skewers after marinating, and then defrost then to cook? And how about the sauce, just divide into small tubs and freeze those individually I guess? Of course I could just experiment and work it out but as someone who has already done it I thought I would ask about your successful methods – thanks!
———
mythaicurry replied:
You guessed right Jimmy. Marinate the chicken for a few hours before freezing, make sure it is completely defrosted before cooking. Also divide the sauce into quantities that you are likely to be using. Hope you will enjoy it:-)