It was Fourth of July. Time for hamburgers and hotdogs! But we just had hamburger sliders several weeks ago. Besides, I had bought this beautiful onion. See picture—it really is gorgeous. To put it in a salad with other vegetables would do my onion no justice. How can I make the best of it?
Satay! We’d just have to make satay for our traditional July 4 barbecue. Satay as we know it in Singapore is eaten with raw onion and cucumber, which I also had plenty of. Grilling chicken outdoors is American enough.
Except, it rained. Fortunately I can totally grill satay in my oven. In fact, this means I can make my satay in my usual, lazy way. That is, instead of teeny pieces of chicken, I cut them about the size of a chicken tenderloin—except I use thighs. Each thigh can be cut into three of four long pieces.
Singapore satay is pierced on sticks made from the stem of coconut leaves, not bamboo. Our satay sticks are as long as the bamboo skewers but about three inches of small pieces of meat is placed only at the pointed end of the stick. That is because the satay man has to hold on to the sticks—usually 8-10 of them at a time—as he barbecues the satay. He flips the meat over the hot charcoal with one hand and fans the fire with his other.
It’s fascinating to watch a satay man sitting on his stool, squinting through the smoke, cooking satay. Occasionally, he stops fanning to baste the satay with a marinade that obviously has oil because then the flames from the charcoal lights up with a sizzle singeing the meat and giving off more smoke intensifying the satay’s flavor.
Just before I left Singapore in the 1980s, the Satay Club, in the Esplanade, was home to several different stalls selling only satay. It was wonderful to walk among the stalls and smell the wafts of grilled chicken, or mutton or beef. No pork, this is Malay cuisine. Those were the days when we ate out at small tables and on wooden stools, with the harbor close enough where we can hear the sound of the sea and the ships.
The satay man just asks which meat you want and during your meal he continues to pile satay on to the communal plate until you tell him “cukup! cukup!”, enough, enough, when you’re happily satiated. Then he counts how many sticks your party has taken and charges you based on that. I think it was 10 Singapore cents a stick!
Meat for satay is marinated in cumin, turmeric, galangal, garlic and onion. Accompanying this is cucumber, raw onion, and ketupat, a firm, solid rice dumpling, boiled in a pouch made of woven palm leaves. Everything is dipped in satay sauce, also made the same spices, plus chili, coconut milk and loads of peanut. This simple combination of meat, veggie, rice and sauce is a meal in itself.
I used ground cumin in this marinade but everything else is fresh. Traditionally, these roots are pounded in a mortar with a pestle. Instead of pounding the galangal and turmeric, I first grate it from the chunk of root. The grated roots are then put in a blender together with garlic and onion, plus soy sauce and oil to make the blending easier.
SHOPPING AND STORAGE: You can find fresh turmeric and galangal roots in Thai or Korean supermarkets although these are seasonal, available during summer. Freeze them. Keep the tiny pieces of turmeric whole. Before freezing, I cut the galangal into thick slices and also into smaller chunks as I sometimes use them differently.
Chicken Satay
You will need 6-8 metal skewers.
8 chicken thighs, each thigh cut into three long pieces
Marinade
1 large shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
1 tablespoon grated turmeric
1 tablespoon grated galangal
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Put chicken in a large bowl.
In a blender, place shallot, garlic, turmeric, galangal, cumin, soy sauce, dark soy sauce and vegetable oil and blend until shallot and garlic are well grated. Add salt and sugar and stir well. Pour on to chicken and mix it well into the chicken. Cover chicken with plastic wrap. Refrigerate and marinate for at least four hours.
Bring meat to room temperature before grilling, about 30 minutes. While bringing to room temperature, pierce meat through metal skewers. Place meat together in one layer in a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
Place oven racks about 4 inches away from heat source. Set broil on high. Place chicken on rack and broil with oven door slightly ajar for 8 minutes. With a pair of kitchen tongs, turn meat over and broil other side of chicken for another 7-8 minutes until meat is golden brown.
Serve meat on skewers, or remove meat carefully using kitchen mitts and kitchen tongs. Serve on platter with sliced onion and cucumber chunks. Serve with satay sauce.
For recipe on Satay Sauce, click here.
NOTES
VARIATIONS
–Instead of cutting the chicken thighs into small pieces, just cut each thigh in two. Skip the skewers.
–Instead of using the blended spices, do a quick marinade by combing 3 tablespoons bottled teriyaki sauce with 2 teaspoons ground cumin, ½ teaspoon powdered onion, ½ teaspoon powdered garlic, ½ teaspoon paprika .
Glossary of Ingredients
Click here for more on:
Turmeric
Galangal
Soy Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce
