Felt like having chicken satay. Went to get the 2 small chicken breast skin off, small satay skewers and the ingredients for marinade the chicken. I searched recipe for Indonesian peanut sauce, as I just bought a packet of peanut from Bali and my friend gave me a little bit of her Indonesia shrimp paste. I decided to try make the peanut sauce from a handful of Indonesia and Bali styles peanut sauce and found a recipe using terasi. As usual, I like to change the ingredients to called it my own. I do like my sauce to be red spicy too.

“Chicken satay is a popular Southeast Asian dish made of marinated, skewered, and grilled chicken served with a peanut sauce. It offers benefits from lean chicken and nutritious peanuts: can be high in fat, sodium, and sugar, so moderation is key. The marinade contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients like turmeric and cumin, while coconut milk keeps the chicken tender.”

“Peanut sauce, also known as satay sauce, bumbu kacang, or sambal kacang, is an Indonesian sauce made from ground roasted peanuts, commonly used in various dishes, including grilled meats like satay and salads such as gado-gado. Variations in recipes lead to diverse flavours and textures, with key ingredients including ground roasted peanuts, coconut milk, soy sauce, and garlic. Texture is determined by the amount of water mixed in.”

“Gula Jawa, or Javanese sugar, is a coconut palm sugar commonly used in Indonesia, especially in Java. It has a toffee-like flavour and is essential in various Indonesian dishes. Substitutes include coconut sugar, jaggery, and dark brown sugar, with the latter being the most readily available. Other alternatives like white sugar, molasses, honey, or maple syrup may change the dish’s flavour and texture.”

This my trial and error from memory, something borrowed, and something extra. Today, I am learning to make peanut sauce through searching a handful of recipes and added extra ingredients to suit my taste bud (must be spicy). I am also adding salad for vegetables intakes and add colours to my plate. Let’s grill!!!

Ingredients

(Bumbu kachang) chunky peanut sauce-spicy

1 1/4 c peanuts, unsalted and skinless
3/4 c water, plus extra
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 3 strips, use only 1 strip for the spice paste
1 small piece fresh galangal, peeled about 1 cm
1 Tbs kicap manis
1 Tbs tamarind pulp +1/4 c warm water
1/2 Tsp sambal olek (chili paste)
1 Tsp coriander powder
1/2 Tsp terasi (Indonesian shrimp paste)
4 small bird’s eye chiles, removed seeds and coarsely chopped
4 dried red chilies, seeded and soaked in warm water, squeeze dry and chopped coarsely
4 cloves small shallots, peeled or pickling onion, chopped coarsely
4 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped coarsely
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 small lime juice
100g gula jawa, shaved or or 3 Tbs dark brown sugar
oil
salt

Chicken and marinade

2 chicken breast, skin off
1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled
6 pickling onions, bought
2 Tsp white sugar
1 Tsp turmeric powder
1 Tsp chili powder
1/2 lime juice
1/4 Tsp cumin powder
1/8 Tsp galangal powder
1/8 c coconut milk, plus more if needed
a pinch of fennel powder
a pinch of coriander
salt
pepper

Equipment and oil

14 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 2 hours
foils to wrap the skewers, prevent burning
oil, for brushing the satay meat
1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, use as a brush

Sides

mixed salad
1/4 piece red capsicum
1/4 piece green capsicum

Method

Marinade chicken

Cut the chicken breast into small pieces. Place chicken in double large resealable plastic bags or a metal bowl. Set aside. Blend all the chicken satay marinade ingredients in a food processor about 30-35 seconds. Blitz until a smooth paste forms. if too dry add more coconut milk.

Pour the chicken satay marinade into the chicken pieces in the prepared double large resealable plastic bag; massage the outer layer of the resealable bag, ensuring each piece is coated well. For the metal bowl, wear gloves and toss to combine and coat the chicken pieces well.

Marinate chicken pieces for 6 hours in the fridge, or overnight. I place them in the fridge overnight; double resealable bags are placed on top of a tray; if possible, every two hours bring them out and give them a couple of massages, then place them back into the fridge. For a metal bowl, cover with cling wrap, and after removing the cling wrap, wear gloves and toss the chicken pieces to coat them well.

The next day

Wear gloves, thread/pierce 2-3 chicken pieces onto the bamboo skewers. Continue until the chicken or the bamboo skewers are all used up. Before cooking, prepare a bowl of 1 Tbs oil with 1/4 c coconut milk; stir to mix them well and a brush on the side.

Using oven/ grill

Preheat grill. Line a baking tray with foil and lightly brush with oil. I wrap the end of my bamboo skewers. You don’t have to. Make sure the grill is hot before putting chicken satays tray in. Grill the chicken satay on skewers for 2-3 minutes on one side first. Baste and using lemongrass pounded as a brush (See Note) with some oil and coconut while grilling. Bring out test if chicken pieces are cooked. If not add another 1-2 minutes more; baste and brush with some oil and coconut while grilling, until chicken satay turns golden brown with some char marks.

Bring out tray, brush a bit more oil on the other side of tray and then flip over the other side of the chicken satays into the freshly brush more oil; baste and brush with some oil and coconut while grilling. Then place back into the oven/ grill cook until chicken satay turns golden brown with some char marks. 

Switch off the oven/grill. Bring out the tray from oven/grill, cover with loose tented foil. I put it back into the oven/grill until I needed.

Do the (Bumbu kachang) chunky peanut sauce-spicy

If you bought peanuts without the skin, place them in a frying pan over medium-low heat and give them a quick roast until they are toasty and brown. Remember to shake the pan every few minutes to them moving so that they don’t burn. They take about 10 minutes. Once the peanuts have finished roasting, let it cool. Place the cooled, 1 c roasted peanuts into a food processor. Begin blending on a low speed, then gradually increase to medium-high. You will need to stop food processor periodically to scrape the peanuts down the sides to ensure even blending. A tamper can be helpful to push them into the blades. Keep blending until the texture of coarse sand. Set aside. Using the same food processor, give a couples of pulses for 1/4 c of peanuts.

Note: You can roast them in the oven at around 350°F (175°C) for 10-15 minutes, then let them cool. 

In a small bowl, add the tamarind pulps plus warm water. Set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze and extract the juice from the tamarind pulps and discard. Keep the tamarind juice. Using food processor and blend both chiles, galangal, pickling onion, lemongrass 1 strip, terasi, kaffir lime leaves and garlic until very fine. Add about 5 Tbs of water to help blending (at a time as needed to loosen). If needed to add more water.

Heat a pan over medium heat and add 2 Tbs oil. When hot, add the blended spices, sambal olek and the other 2 lemongrass strips. Cook, stirring frequently until fragrant and beginning to colour, about 4 minutes and smell spicy.

Add the ground peanuts, 1/4 c chunky peanut, 3/4 c water, tamarind juice, salt, shaved gula jawa, coriander powder, and kicap manis. Stir to combine well. Turn the heat to low heat, and bring to a boil and simmer gently until thick, stir continuously for about 5-10 minutes or until the peanut sauce thickens to your desired consistency. Do stirring often so the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt. Let cool at room temperature and serve bumbu kachang with satay. Leftovers keep well in an airtight jar for up to 1 week.

Once bumbu kachang is done; spoon enough onto a plate, add chicken satay, followed by salad and serve at room temperature. Enjoy with a cold beer!!! 

Note: From one of the recipes; I had browsed: “You can use a large non stick pan; Heat some oil over medium high heat. Cook skewers in batches for 3 minutes on each side until golden. Serve with sauce on the side for dipping. From another recipes: Serve the skewers with the cucumber relish, and cut red onions.

From another recipes: “Alternatively, set all the burners of a gas grill to high heat. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Grill chicken until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter, let rest for 5 minutes, then serve immediately with spicy peanut sauce.”

From another recipes: “Bake or roast the satays in the oven at 180°C/350°F for 30 to 35 minutes. Halfway through, flip the satays to the other side for even cooking. Brush on more oil before putting the tray back in. OPTIONAL: At the last 10 minutes, turn the oven setting on to ‘Broil’. Place satay racks to the top rack layer. This will give the satays a nice charred surface, as if you’ve grilled them! Serve the chicken satay hot, accompanied by peanut sauce, cucumber slices, raw onions, and rice cakes!”

From another recipes: “Use a mix of chicken breasts, thighs, and legs for satay. Cutting them into uniform pieces ensures they cook evenly—no undercooked or overdone bites! When threading the skewers, I like to add a piece of chicken skin between the meat chunks. The fat bastes the meat while it grills, keeping it moist and juicy. Plus, once it melts away, it leaves behind beautifully charred and crispy edges.

“For basting, I cut off the white end of the lemongrass stalk (about 6 inches) and discard the rest. After pounding the white end with a pestle or the flat side of a cleaver, I add it to the oil. It gives the chicken a more pronounced lemongrass flavour that’s absolutely delicious. Once cooked, I use a pair of scissors to snip off any over-charred or burnt bits—just a little finishing touch that makes the satay look and taste just right!”

“Terasi is a native fermented product from Indonesia made of shrimp or fish. Terasi has an essential role in Indonesian cuisine as a condiment. This product occurs primarily in the form of fermented shrimp paste prepared from a krill-like shrimp.”

You can use less chilies say 2 small bird’s eye chilies. You can omit sambal olek, and terasi. You can use 1 c of peanuts only. You can use peanut butter as I had seen some using peanut butter rather than peanuts.

https://helenscchin.com/2025/09/16/chicken-stay-salad-and-bumbu-kachang-chunky-peanut-sauce/

#helenscchinrecipes
#asianculinarycurrynoodles
#poultry
#cookingforthefun
#foodiesplus