Thai Satay Skewers

By Ellen L. Published: 2019-03-27

If you're one of those folks like me who think that restaurant servings of skewers are waaaay too small and few and never enough for your deep skewer hunger then you're in luck cuz skewers are actually pretty easy to make. And if you make your own you can have as many, many mouth wateringly lusicous skewers as you can gobble down and hide under your shirt for nibbles later. (Ouch, watch out for the sharp tips!)

These Thai Satay Skewers of thoroughly marinated meat grilled to caramelized charred perfection are a showcase for those famously startlingly contrasts that work so well in Thai cuisine, the sweet, salty, sour, bitter and spicy present and somehow all perfectly balanced in one dish.

Here's the secret to the sauce! Or more accurately the secret to the marinade. All the five flavors are here. The salty comes from soy sauce and fish sauce. The sour and the bitter are released from the crushed fresh lemongrass. The wonderful spicy is from the shallots, ginger, garlic and chiles. The sugar balances all with the sweet.

Not to mention all the various spices and flavor layers and of course, the umami that comes from the wonderful fish sauce. Everything goes in and is whizzed into a thick paste.

We used chicken and beef this time. Pork works well as well, even mutton. Just slice into strips and don't forget to pop your bamboo skewers in water to soak for a couple of hours. That's so that they don't burn when the skewers are on the grill.

Ohh... Look at that gorgeous marinade! Mix it with the meat strips, cover and let it all sit in the fridge soaking in all those many splendid magnificent flavors a couple of hours or even overnight. The longer you marinate, the more yummilicious your skewers will be! (But a good two hours is good as well!)

The meat comes out of the marinade looking tender and well soaked with all those luscious flavors.

Now it's time to get those strips threaded onto your well soaked skewers. Just stitch the meat on rather like the skewer is a needle and your meat is a strip of cloth. Slicing the meat in thin strips helps keep the skewer thinner and closer to the heat, thus cooking faster and more evenly.

Onto the grill! Our little cast iron grill is just one of those that goes onto your stove. Very handy. Oil the grill to prevent the skewers sticking.

The skewers go onto the hot grill until the meat releases from the grill and char marks appear then flip over and repeat. Once golden, carmelized and charred to perfection pile onto your serving dish, but watch out, many of these mouthwateringly yummilicious Thai Satay Skewers will probably disappear before ever reaching the dining table!

Thai Satay Skewers Recipe
(18-20 skewers) Prep: 15 mins Marination: 2 hours Cook: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Skewers

20 nos bamboo skewer sticks
1 steak
3 chicken breasts

Marinade

1 fresh lemongrass, roughly chopped
2 shallots, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
1-2 chilies to taste, deseeded and roughly chopped
5 slices fresh ginger
1 tsp tumeric
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
5 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp oil

Directions:

Soak skewer sticks in water. Make marinade by adding lemongrass, shallots, garlic, chiles, ginger, tumeric, coriander and cumin into food processor and whiz until finely chopped. Add in 1 tbsp each of soy sauce and fish sauce and all the sugar and process until paste starts to form. Add in 2 tbsp of oil and then, if needed, 1 more tbsp of soy sauce and fish sauce each until the paste is thick and wet.

Slice the chicken and steak into 1/4" thick slices. Add to marinade, mix, cover and let sit in fridge for at least two hours and up to overnight.

When ready to cook, preheat up your grill until the heat is medium and steady. Tread the meat strips onto your presoaked skewer sticks.

Oil the hot grill by brushing with some oil. Add skewer to grill and leave it alone until the meat releases from the grill by itself and beautiful char marks have formed, about 3-4 mins. Brush the tops with marinade and flip over and grill the other side for another 3-4 minutes or until cooked through and slightly charred.

Serve with peanut dip, see recipe below. Enjoy!

Thai Peanut Sauce Dip Recipe
(makes 3/4 cup) Prep time: 2 mins Cooking time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

4 slices fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
1 chili (optional)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp water

Directions:

Roughly chop the ginger, garlic. Deseed chili if using and roughly chop.

In food processor, finely chop the ginger, garlic and chili together with the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, sugar and water. If needed, add more water 1 tbsp at a time until a smooth paste is created.

Serve in a small bowl for dipping the skewers. Freeze the remainder in a zip lock to use next time.

Deliciously Meaty at The Hong Kong Cookery: