Recipe: Chicken Satay

Nothing spells summer in MA like a freak tornado, and when we aren’t hiding in the basement, we are usually out grilling. Today I prepared my Chicken Satay (aka Chicken on a stick) for Luigi and his family and friends. After enjoying a great Saturday afternoon cookout, I thought that perhaps other people would like to enjoy this dish as well. This is not your typical Thai chicken satay, but is a slightly different version. As I understand, this recipe was initially published in Times magazine in the early 1980s.  My father used it every year for a cookout we had in the summer.  It was such a hit with his cowerkers, that it was eventualy cached away on the Realtime Software Engineering Group Notes server inside Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). From there, it was eventually passed on to me and  today I pass it on to you.

Ingredients:

  • Wooden grilling skewers
  • 4 Chicken breasts
  • 2/3 cup of soy sauce (Low Sodium)
  • ½ cup of sesame oil
  • ¼ cup of brown sugar
  • The juice from 1 whole lemon
  • 2 fresh garlic cloves (pressed)
  • 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
  • Pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients (except the chick and skewers) together in mixing bowel to make your marinade. Take the chicken and pound it flat till it is only ¼ inch thick. Once flattened, cut the chicken into strips about ¾ of an inch wide (and as long as you like). Once all the chicken has been cut, combine it with the marinade for at least 6 hours. The longer your leave the chicken marinating, the stronger the flavor will be. I would also recommend submerging the wooden skewers in water for the same amount of time. The water soaked wood keeps the skewers from burning away when they are on the grille. Just before you are ready to grille, you want to thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers, folding it back and forth as you go. At this point, you just go ahead and grille it. A few minutes on each side should be enough to cook it all the way through.

Bon Appétit!