Pan-Asian with Mixed Results

Tonight was a mix and match night with some Indian, Malaysian, and Thai. I wanted to try to make chicken satay with peanut sauce, but wasn't sure what to eat with it. I went with Creamy Spinach with Mung Dal (yellow lentils) and coconut rice.

Coconut Rice

First the coconut rice: an utter failure. It was way too rich to eat with anything and it was kind of thick and soupy. If it was sweetened, I could have made mango and sticky rice. Sadly, this one went into the trash. I did not even take a picture.

Creamy Spinach with Mung Dal

This wasn't the failure that the coconut rice was, but that is not saying much. Basically, this was just lentils with spinach, onion, cayenne, turmeric, chilies, yogurt to make it creamy, and ginger - lots and lots of ginger.

Everything going into the pot looked really pretty.


But once cooked down, it was just gingery, soupy, and creamy. There wasn't much depth of flavor. It was very unsatisfying on all accounts. I won't be making this again.

Chicken Satay
with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Luckily, tonight was not a wash. The chicken satay and the spicy peanut sauce were both amazing. This is the second time I have made chicken satay with a peanut sauce, but this time I used a new recipe for both the satay and the sauce.

The Satay

For the marinade, I used the food processor to grind coriander, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric, brown sugar, and peanut oil into a paste.


After marinating the chicken thighs for two hours in the paste, I skewered them and put them on a foil-covered pan. I neglected to follow the directions. The ends of the skewers should have been propped up against the side of the tray. Once the chicken was on the tray, I basted it with peanut oil using the crushed end of a lemongrass stock.


I put the skewers in the oven on the highest heat, next to the heat source. My oven does not have a fancy broiler as it is ancient. Here is a picture of me turning on my oven (yes, I have to light it with a match each and every time):


After about six minutes on each side, my apartment was smoky with smoldering bamboo skewers. I soaked the skewers first, so luckily no fire.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

The spicy peanut sauce I made is a Thai adaptation of what was originally an Indonesian sauce. This sauce is just amazing and really easy to make. You boil coconut milk, add red curry paste, peanut butter, stock or water, brown sugar, lime, and fish sauce. The red curry paste I used is from the same batch I made earlier in the week for the country curry. I froze the paste in tablespoon-sized balls using an ice cube tray and now have a ready store in my freezer door.

So, even though the rice and the creamy spinach with lentils were failures, tonight was a good night. This particular satay peanut sauce combination is a winner. I will be making this again.


Chicken Satay Recipe found in:
Cradle of Flavor by James Oseland.

Spicy Peanut Sauce recipe found in:
Real Thai by Nancie McDermott.