Do It Yourself Satay

Have you been enjoying supermarket satay? This is chicken, pork, or beef cooked on a stick in a Thai manner.  It’s inexpensive and cooks super fast. You can make satay at home either on an outdoor grill, and under your kitchen cook stove’s broiler. The name ‘satay’ is a corruption of the English word “steak.” The recipe originated in Indonesia, and being quick cooking and delicious, it leaped the channel to the Malay peninsula, then sped up into Thailand. When you live that close to the equator, you don’t want to spend much time over a hot stove or grill  We first ate it in Bangkok, and thought it a Thai original. Traditionally, it’s cooked on wooden skewers.

    Thai Beef Satay
          6 servings

1 pound lean beef thinly sliced and cut in strips ½ x 2 inches, and marinated at least twenty minutes.
Marinade:
2 cloves garlic, mashed and chopped
½ medium size onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon brown or coconut sugar juice of 1 lime
1 Tablespoon Nam Pla (fish sauce)
1 to 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon light olive oil or peanut oil

In a blender or food processor, puree the above ingredients. Thread the meat ribbons on wooden skewers, three or four to each skewer. Place them side by side in a large plastic or ceramic platter. Pour the marinade over the meat. Let it stand for 30 to 60 minutes, rotating the sticks occasionally so all the meat strips get a chance to absorb flavors from the marinade.

If the weather stays warm, and you’re outside cooking on a grill over charcoal, light the coals and let them get to the stage where they’re coated with white ash. If by the time this column hits print it’s raining again, and you’re in the house using a broiler, turn it on and let it come to full heat, about 10 minutes. The satay needs to be briefly cooked over or under high heat.

Remove the satay, still on it’s sticks, from the marinade. Cook over or under fierce heat, and quickly for 2  to 3 minutes, Turn the satays over and cook the other side 2 minutes. Enjoy with Peanut Sauce.  This sauce is equally good served over steamed vegetables for a vegan meal. You can whip the sauce up while the charcoal or broiler heats.

  Instant Peanut Sauce
    Makes about ¾ cup

 ½ cup peanut butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup “thick” coconut milk
1 Tablespoon brown or coconut sugar
½ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon lemon juice or to taste
1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce
Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a saucepan while stirring. Remove at once from the heat. Taste and add more cayenne if you’d like it spicier. Serve in small bowls for dipping the satay meat in.  Let each diner gnaw the meat from the sticks, or slip it off with a fork. Present side bowls of fresh cucumber relish.

 Fresh Cucumber Relish,
6 servings:

2 large cucumbers, 1 small red onion, ¼ to ½ teaspoon red hot pepper flakes, ½ cup water 5 Tablespoons white or blond balsamic vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt.  Peel cucumber and onion and halve lengthwise. Slice thinly.  Combine with hot pepper flakes in a bowl.  Dissolve the sugar and salt on the hot water. Pour over the cucumber and onion. Stir and refrigerate. Don’t worry if you have no red onion. This is also good made with just the cucumber.