Satay is pretty common across all of Southeast Asia (and even The Netherlands, actually, due to its Indonesian ties), but in Singapore they have a particular style. Singaporean satay is a bit smaller, a bit fattier and there’s a bit more emphasis on the flavor of the meat itself (but then, I am biased…).
It’s mighty touristy of me, but my favorite satay spot in Singapore was the satay “street” at Lau Pa Sat (again, probably somewhat biased- LPS was the first place I ever ate satay and I also lived overlooking it for a year). Most nights they block off the street and fill it with tables catered to by the satay stalls. The most common flavors there are chicken, beef, mutton and prawn, grilled over an open flame and come served with a heaping pile of cucumbers and onions and never quite enough peanut sauce.
The recipe here is really about my satay sauce more than the marinade. I use this sauce in many things, like salads and stir-frys, in addition to dipping. And like most recipes this month, it’s not a perfect replica, but is really quite effective.
[Prep: 20min* / Cook: 20min]
*+ optional overnight chilling
Satay
– 2 chicken breasts (or about 300g/.6lb chicken breast pieces)
– dash each of garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin and ground ginger
– 1/4 cup light soy sauce
– 1/2 Tbs sesame oil
– 1 tsp brown sugar
– wooden skewers, soaked
Sauce
– 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
– 2 Tbs sweet chili sauce
– 1 Tbs sesame oil
– 1 Tbs light soy sauce
– 1 tsp lime juice
– dash each of ground ginger, chili powder and garlic powder
- Chop chicken into small, bite-sized pieces. Go even smaller if you have the patience.
- Combine remaining satay ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator [optional].
- Skewer-up the chicken. [Singapore-style is shorter, only about 3 to 4 inches of meat per skewer]
- Fire-up a skillet over a high flame. Get a bit of oil in the pan because it will stick/burn. Scorch the chicken (about 30sec each side) to seal-in the moisture. Turn the heat down to medium/medium-high and cook through (about 2-3min each side), turning regularly.
- Meanwhile, stir together all sauce ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 30sec intervals, stirring in-between, until melded together and fairly warm (about 1.5min).
- Ready to eat!
[Serves 2]
Suggested Sides- Chunky chopped vegetables to dip in the sauce like onions, cucumbers or even carrots
- Sticky rice, coconut rice or lemang
- A tropical fruit salad
- Light beer
- ALWAYS SOAK YOUR WOODEN SKEWERS for about 1 hour before using them. They will burn and not be much fun otherwise.
- It would be amazing to properly grill these outside over an open flame/on the grill. Do try it if you have one.
- Of course, you can go all-out and for every powder/spice mentioned use the real deal and chop it up yourself (garlic, ginger, etc) but it’s not really worth the trouble.
- Singapore satay sauce is chunky, so chunky peanut butter is best. Smooth is fine, of course. I also found that Dutch pindakaas is particularly suited for the texture of satay sauce.
- Yes, that’s a lot of peanut butter.
- As I said, Satay comes in all different flavors and my favorite way to order it was mixed: 6 chicken, 6 mutton, 6 beef. Use the same marinade and sauce, just try to use nice, relatively fatty cuts of meat for the fullest flavor.
- Sesame oil is kind of key here. Peanut oil is a common variation and sunflower oil may be OK, but others will be quite lacking.
- Of course, you can play with the flavor balance of the sauce to your liking. In the past I have used a spicier sambal or chili paste (with a touch more oil) for a truly fiery sauce.