Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• 2 lemon grass sticks
• 2 shallots
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp brown sugar or honey
• 1 thumb size piece of fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp soy sauce or kecap manis
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• Half cucumber

• Optional

• 4 Spring onions (scallion, green onion)
• 2 limes.

        See my Simple recipe for peanut sauce

Steps

• Step 1

  For the Satay paste, You will need a good quality blender or food processor.  First chop up the lemon grass, use the white part only as the green is very woody.  Peel the shallots and give them a rough chop.  Peel the fresh garlic cloves.  Peel the ginger and roughly chop, add to a food processor along with the brown sugar, coriander, cumin, turmeric, soy sauce and vegetable oil.  Blitz until a smooth paste, the smoother the better.  Transfer to a container.

• Step 2

  Slice the chicken thighs into long thin strips.  Add to satay paste, mix well, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

• Step 3

  If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water to reduce burning.

• Step 4

  Cut your cucumber in half, trim off the ends, then split in half and slice on an angle fairly thick slices.

• Step 5

  Thread the chicken meat on each stick, a good method is shaping each strip like the letter “S” the place the stick through it so you have a wider span.  You only want two sides when cooking, so the chicken has to be flat.  Use approx 3 pieces per stick.

• Step 6

  Using a hot BBQ or a griddle pan, lightly oil the grill first, then place the chicken skewers across the grill.  You want a little bit of char for the perfect Satay but of course not burnt.  They should only take 2 to 3 minutes each side.

• Step 7

  Serve over hot rice with hot peanut sauce, a cheek of lime and a few chopped spring onions.

Little Tips

As you cook them, baste them with a little more vegetable oil.<br> <br> See my simple peanut Satay sauce