Sate Ajam - broiled skewered marinated chicken

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Another part of the Indonesian feast. Again (of course) from Foods of the World: Pacific and Southeast Asian Cooking. 

 Sate Ajam 

Broiled skewered marinated chicken

To make about 16 sate

1 tsp finely chopped garlic

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp white pepper

2 tbsp ketjap manis

2 tsp strained fresh lime juice

2 twelve-ounce chicken breasts, skinned, boned and cut into 1-inch squares

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Katjang saos (below)

Combine the garlic, salt and pepper in a deep bowl and with the back of a spoon mash them to a paste. Mix in the ketjap manis and lime juice. Add the chicken and toss the pieces about with a spoon until they are evenly coated. Marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes* or in the refrigerator for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Light a layer of coals in a charcoal broiler or hibachi and let them burn until a white ash appears on the surface, or preheat the broiler of the stove to its highest point.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and thread it tightly, 4 or 5 pieces at a time, on small skewers - preferably the Oriental wooden skewers - about 6 inches long. Protect the exposed ends of the wooden skewers by wrapping them with foil. With a pastry brush, spread the oil evenly over the chicken. Broil about 3 inches from the heat, turning the skewers occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the chicken is crisp and brown. Serve at once directly from the skewer accompanied by the katjang saos presented separately in a bowl.

*my understanding is that marinating at room temperature is no longer recommended.

 Katjang Saos

Spiced Peanut Sauce

To make about 2 cups

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots or substitute 1/4 cup finely chopped scallions, white part only

1 tsp finely chopped garlic

1/4 tsp shrimp paste

2 cups chicken stock, fresh or canned

1/2 cup shelled peanuts, preferably Spanish peanuts, pulverized in an electric blender or with a nut grinder or mortar and pestle

1 tbsp ketjap manis

1 tsp scraped, finely grated fresh ginger root

1/4 tsp finely chopped fresh hot chilies

In a heavy 8-inch skillet or sauté pan, heat the oil over moderate heat until a light haze forms above it. Drop in the shallots, or scallions, and garlic and, stirring frequently, cook for 3 or 4 minutes, or until they are soft and transparent but not brown. Watch carefully for any signs of burning and regulate the heat accordingly. Add the shrimp paste and mash it thoroughly with the back of a spoon.

Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Stirring constantly, add the peanuts, ketjap manis, lime juice, ginger and chilies. Reduce the heat to low and, stirring occasionally, simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, or until the sauce is thick enough to coat the spoon heavily. Serve at once.

If necessary, the sauce may be prepared ahead and reheated. In this event it may thicken as it stands. Thin it is necessary with a tablespoon or more of water.

When buying meat for this, I was stuck with the dilemma of having to buy 3 lbs of chicken breasts or just the right amount of chicken thighs for the recipe. Local, sustainably raised meat is so expensive and I don't do well with leftover meat yet (I have to follow a recipe still as I get used to it), so I opted for the thighs.

Making the marinade - I subbed black pepper for white (don't have any white on hand!):

I decided this would be a good excuse to use my mortar and pestle to get a good paste, so I ground the garlic with the pepper and salt:

Then added the lime juice and ketjap manis to make a slurry:

This was added to the cut up chicken thighs and put in a container in the fridge for almost 4 hours. We mixed it about every hour.

While the chicken was marinating, I made the peanut sauce.

We did, as usual, leave out the shrimp paste. I thought about using chunky peanut butter for the recipe but had purchased peanuts for another dish, so figured I go with the book version. I ground the peanuts with the immersion blender until it was a bit gooey but still rather chunky. I probably could have gotten it smoother, but this seemed to be a good stopping point as I like a chunky peanut sauce. A lot of the clumps are actually peanut butter clumps and not just whole peanuts.

After chopping and doing all the prep, here's the ingredients again:

This starts with cooking the shallots and garlic. I frequently sub out shallots for onions because I rarely have them on hand but I always have onions. But I saw some at the store and remembered I had a few recipes that called for them. I'm so glad I did! I forget how different they are from their cousins. I LOVED the smell of them sautéing! Once they were done, I added the stock (used BTB vegetable base)

Once this boils, you add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes, or until thick. After 10 minutes, I didn't feel it was any thicker.

After another 5 minutes simmering, I decided to use the immersion blender again, thinking I may have just not gotten the peanuts into a smooth enough paste to thicken the sauce. A final 5 minutes finally yielded a nice thick sauce still with chunky peanuts remaining.

I even let it cool and sit in the fridge for about 2 hours and it was just a little thicker when reheating - a texture I liked!

After the chicken was done marinating, we put it on the skewers and my brother cooked in on the grill. I couldn't even get a picture snapped before my nephew started digging in!

Succulent. So flavorful. Absolutely the best chicken dish I've ever had (which honestly hasn't been that many!). My husband usually thinks chicken is the most bland and boring meat and he RAVED about these. While we did use the sauce, it hardly needed it. These were simply the hit of the show in my opinion, though some others argued that the pork was just as good if not better.