thai me up

When you live with a group of girls who I love food as much as you, you can't help but develop a special bond together. It was 6 years ago that I lived with Talida, Tonnie and Jana. And til today, we still hold our traditional monthly dinners with the (3rd generation) Roselawn girls. For May, we decided on a Thai-grill theme since the weather was getting warmer. A few years back, my Singaporean coworker suggested a great South Asian recipe website to me. Although it mainly consists of Singaporean recipes, it also has a few authentic Thai recipes. For my Thai-grill contribution, I chose a chicken satay recipe from this site. If you're not a chicken lover, this recipe can also be used with chunks of beef or pork or large prawns. It was so easy and delicious!

 

satay kai (chicken satay)  

ingredients: 

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger about 
• 1 pound chicken breasts, skinned, boned, and cut into strips 
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce 
• 1 tablespoon curry powder pinch turmeric powder 
• 8 tablespoons coconut milk 
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar  

directions: 

1. The chicken is beaten flat, using the flat of the blade of a heavy cleaver.
2. All the ingredients are combined to form a marinade, and the chicken is marinated overnight.
3. The pieces of chicken are then threaded on skewers. Grill the skewers on high heat. 
4. Turn them regularly and brush them liberally with the remaining marinade.
5. Cooking should take between 5 and 10 minutes depending on the heat of your cooker.

nam jim satay (peanut sauce)

ingredients: 

• 4 ounces of freshly roasted (unsalted) peanuts 
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped 
• 1 ounce chopped onion 
• 1-2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 8 tablespoons coconut milk 
• 4-6 teaspoons lime juice (to taste)
• 2-3 teaspoons brown sugar  

directions: 

1. First grind or crush the peanuts to a fairly fine powder.
2. Then combine them with the remaining ingredients (except the lime juice), to form a smooth sauce. If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it with a little chicken stock.
3. Now add the lime juice, tasting as you progress to check the balance of flavors is correct.