Not only do I think this is the best way to make chicken satay, it’s also the easiest way, thanks to a couple shortcut, time-saving ingredients. This can be cooked several ways, but charcoal grilling produces something beyond gorgeous, and the flavor is extraordinary. We’ll also show you how to make a perfect peanut sauce to pair alongside. Enjoy!
For the fully formatted, printable, written recipe, follow this link: https://www.allrecipes.com/the-best-chicken-satay-recipe-11780842
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[Music] Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with the best chicken saté. That’s right. It’s come to my attention that I’ve never posted a video for this, which is shocking since this is one of my favorite things to eat. But anyway, I’m going to finally show you what I think is the best recipe and also the easiest recipe thanks in part to these first two ingredients, which would be some jarred ready to use red curry paste, plus a nice big spoon of curry powder. And while we could add all the individual ingredients used to make these, this is going to save us a lot of time and effort, but we’ll still produce something extraordinary. And then to that, we will add a little bit of salt, plus some sugar, both white and brown. And then we’ll follow that with a touch of Asian fish sauce. And then we’ll finish up the marinade ingredients with the star of the show, some real full fat coconut milk. And we will pour that in. And then take a whisk and mix this very thoroughly. And thanks to those first two ingredients in just a couple minutes. This is ready to start tossing chunks of chicken into. So feel free to spend all that extra time toasting and grinding spices and pounding chilies and garlic and ginger in a mortar and pestle, which of course would be great, but I’ll take something very close that we can just do in a couple minutes. And then as far as how to prep the aforementioned chicken chunks, we’ll take some boneless skinless chicken thighs, which as you know have two sides, a smaller, flatter side and a bigger, fatter side. And what I like to do is cut between those two pieces in the thinnest point. And then cut the smaller side in half to make two chunks. And then if we take the bigger side and cut that into quarters, we should end up with six relatively uniform pieces. And yes, while I hate to admit it, you can make this with chicken breast. And if you don’t overcook it, that works fine, but it dries out really quickly. So I think the thigh is better since it stays moistister and has more flavor. Speaking of which, we don’t need to trim off any of those little pieces of white surface fat since that’s one of the reasons why this is moistister and more flavorful. But no matter what we use, once our chicken’s cut, we will transfer it into our marinade. And we’ll give it a thorough mixing to make sure it’s all evenly coated, at which point we’re going to wrap it up and pop it in the fridge for about two hours, which I personally think is the perfect marination time. Okay. Some people go as long as overnight, but I’ve done both and I think the shorter marination is better. Right? We get the same flavor with what I think is a better texture. And while our chicken’s in the fridge, there’s a couple other things we need to do, like toss our bamboo skewers into some water, so they don’t catch on fire on the grill, right? They’re still going to char, but at least they won’t turn to ash and fall apart. And then the other thing we’ll want to do is put together our peanut sauce, which not surprisingly starts with some smooth allnatural peanut butter. To which we will add some coconut milk, followed by a clove or two of crushed garlic, as well as some brown sugar, but not too much since I prefer this more on the salty, savory side, which is a perfect segue to me adding some soy sauce as well as some Asian fish sauce. And then we’re definitely going to want some acidity in this, which I’m going to do by squeezing in a whole lime. And then after that’s been added in, I’m going to add a little bit of a secret ingredient, which is a nice drizzle of sesame oil, which I think is going to add another interesting nutty note to combine with the peanut butter. And that’s it. We’ll finish up with some Shiraza hot sauce, with the exact amount being determined by you. I mean, you are after all the Danny K of how to sauce your chicken saté, but I do like this to have a little bit of heat. Oh, and by the way, this recipe with the marinade and the sauce is going to use about a half a can of coconut milk. So, if you want to use it all, just go ahead and double the recipe. And then once we have this mixed up, we’ll want to adjust the texture with a splash of water or two. Okay, I want this thick, but I don’t want it too thick. So, we’ll adjust that to get the exact texture we want, which for me looks something like this. And that’s it. We’ll wrap that up and pop that in the fridge until we need it. And then once our chicken’s marinated long enough, we will grab our soak skewers and we will start skewering. Oh, by the way, did somebody sue the skewer company because they poked their finger and they claimed the skewer was too sharp? Because these things were super dull and I was having a little bit of trouble getting it through the meat. So, if that’s what happened, nice going, buddy. Now, we all have to use dull skewers. And if you’re using the same length skewer I am, you’re probably going to get about four chunks on each. And while the meat should definitely be touching, do not squeeze it super tight together. Since that’s going to prevent the heat from penetrating through to the center, but anyway, once all our chicken’s been impaled, we’ll go ahead and wrap that up and pop it in the fridge while we build a nice charcoal fire. And once that’s ashy white and beautifully hot, we will place our skewers down on the grates, which I brush lightly with oil. And what we’ll do is grill these for about four to five minutes per side, which of course depends on how big you cut your chicken and whether you use thigh or breast since the breast is going to cook a little bit quicker. And while charcoal grilling is by far the most delicious and beautiful way to do this, you can also simply sear these in a pan with a little bit of oil or on one of those cast iron grill pans or even do them in the oven under your broiler. But if at all possible, please do them over charcoal since those bittersweet charm marks and that little bit of a smoky kiss I really do think elevates all the other flavors. And according to my sources on the island of Java, this is how the original authentic real saté was done. And as far as checking for dness goes, once the meat firms up and springs back to the touch, that’s usually a good indication it’s done. But of course, you can always check with a thermometer. And I think they want us to go to like 155, 160 for chicken thigh these days. But either way, once we think those are done, we’ll start pulling them off the grill and we can argue back and forth about what the most delicious grilled chicken dish is. And this is definitely a candidate for that. But if there’s a more beautiful version of grilled chicken than this, I would love to see it. Since I think the appearance of this is just beyond gorgeous. And that’s it. We’ll head inside and transfer that onto a serving plate. And alongside, I like to do some fresh lime. And of course, plenty of our peanut sauce. And then for some final touches, for a little bit of texture and color, I’m going to scatter over some sliced hot red chilies, some chopped up roasted peanuts, plus a little bit of freshly chopped cilantro. And that’s it. What I’m claiming is the best chicken saté is ready to enjoy. And I’m going to go ahead and squeeze on a little bit of fresh lime before dunking this chicken in the sauce. And if you’ve had it before and you’re a fan of chicken saté, I really don’t need to say anything else in this video since you know. But if for some inexplicable reason you’ve never had this before, I must insist this is the next recipe you make. Since there are few better combinations in the world of food than this super flavorful, wonderfully aromatic chicken dipped in that slightly sweet, salty, savory peanut sauce. It is just so addictive and nearly impossible to stop eating, which is why I’m probably not going to. But anyway, my apologies to everybody for taking so long to share this. I remember we did a beef saté a long time ago that was very good, and I probably said in that video that I would be doing the chicken version sometime soon, but then I never did. But anyway, I can finally say that I think this is the best way to make chicken saté. at least the best fast and easy way without having to make everything from scratch. And I really do hope you give it a try soon. So, please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual. And as always, enjoy.
32 Comments
What's that brown greenish stuff at the beginnning? After curry powder-
I’ve got 3 other skewer recipes of yours in my freezer and just bought 5lbs of chicken so looks like I’m doing some grilling soon
Any time I want to try a new recipe I look up your recipes to learn how to make it. Always a hit, wonderful sense of humor and awesome chef! Much love from Texas!
0:48 i checked, there is such a thing as non-asian fish sauce… you learn something new everyday! Thank you chef john
Sharpen your sticks in a pencil sharpener
Gonna make this tonight!! Yum
I’d forgotten how much I like chicken satay with peanut sauce !
I’m makin’ this !!!!
Thanks for another great recipe !
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
me like da chiken
You don't cook the sauce?
So weird, a couple days ago I decided I wanted to do a chicken satay for Sunday and here's a chicken Satay recipe, just in time! a food wish come true
I was introduced to chicken satay when my family moved to Djakarta in 1970. Our cooked prepared it for us and we were all skeptical until we ate it. To this day, I am a slave to it.
Please do something about the audio volume. I have to set my volume to max, then I go deaf when an ad plays. 😭
Pro tip: Never brush your grill grates with oil or brush your protein with oil before putting it on the grill. Why? Because the oil will turn rancid, polymerizes and bond to the grates. Essentially, its the same process as seasoning cast iron except in this case, the oil turns rancid before it polymerizes and can impart a terrible flavor to the food, ESPECIALLY WHEN USING EVOO. Folks, don't use EVOO when grilling. You would never use it to season cast iron, so why would you put it on intensely hot grill grates or food that goes on intensely hot grill grates??
Simply make sure the grates are clean, the protein is room temp and when the meat has cooked sufficiently, it will release from the grill grates, just like it does when searing in a hot pan. Oils and hot grill grates are not good bed fellows.
Looks incredible. I’m making that tonight.
Where da lemongrass at
I used German fish sauce…but still came out great
Fish sauce 🤢 Boooooooooooooooooo
Thank you so much! I’m catching up on your recipes after returning from a vacation. I can’t wait to try this!!
I love that sauce vessel. You gotta care about what you're doing to include that little nugget. 👍
The fact you said "moist'r" makes me happy 😊
If you want true Thai food, you must find a restaurant where the chef is the grandmother of the owners. She will not speak a word of English, her apron will be highly stained, she will ALWAYS be holding a large cleaver, and her voice will sound akin to the starting grid of a 1990s 2-stroke Grand Prix motorcycle race. The satay and pad Thai will be delicious. If you order anything else it will melt your head.
the invocation of Danny Kaye by god
YES!!! you the best Dr. John
Nice
Temp and cook time recommendations for using an air fryer when a grill is not available?
did i miss it…. how long do the chicken skewers stay on the grill?
Love Chef John and Food Wishes, but for some unknown reason, whenever I watch a Food Wishes video (and this ONLY happens with Food WIshes videos), I get a T-mobile advertisement every 40 seconds or so. It's the same T-mobile ad over and over again.
Can I please put in a request for Bourbon Chicken?
Very good 🙏
I'm not a fan of peanut, but those skewers look delicious!
ok, the last video was demonstrating your dark lord flaying skills and now you are showing off your skewering skills. You are a dark man practicing dark arts even if it does look good.
Awesome recipe🎉🎉🎉