Cook’s notes
Why don’t I just call it chicken satay? Because sate / satay is grilled skewered meat. It’s actually Indonesian/Malaysian sate but known by other names across Southeast Asia. It shouldn’t be confused with the peanut sauce that is sometimes served with. Grilled skewered meat in Southeast Asia is served with a variety of dipping sauces and peanut sauce is just one of them.
This dish isn’t grilled. It’s stir fried. And as with most stir fry dishes, the prep time is just as long as the cooking time, if not longer. The rather long prep time is due to the number of ingredients and the time you have to spend cutting them to pieces small enough to allow them to cook in a short time. Stir frying, after all, requires short cooking time over high heat.
The chicken
I prefer skin on chicken thigh fillet; you may substitute skinless breast fillet if that’s your thing.The chili factor
We use Korean chili flakes at home. Cayenne or other chili powder will work too but you may need to use more or less than the indicated amount depending on your tolerance.The peanuts
Salted or unsalted roasted peanuts will both work but you’ll have to adjust the salt you use in cooking accordingly.Chicken with chili peanut sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken thigh fillet
- ½ salt
- ¼ pepper
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small bell pepper diced
- 1 small onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 heaping teaspoon hoisin sauce
- 1 heaping teaspoon peanut butter
- 1 generous pinch dried chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 drizzle sesame seed oil
- 2 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
- toasted sesame seeds to garnish
- fresh cilantro to garnish
- sliced scallions to garnish
- hot cooked rice to serve
Instructions
- Cut the chicken fillet into one-inch pieces. Toss with salt and pepper.
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Cook the chicken until browned and cooked through, about six to seven minutes. If the chicken skin renders too much fat, you can pour off the fat and leave only a teaspoonful of so in the pan.
- Add the garlic, bell pepper and onion to the chicken. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Stir fry for about half a minute.
- Stir together the hoisin sauce, peanut butter, lime or lemon juice, chili flakes (or powder or paste), fish sauce and sesame seed oil. Pour into the pan and stir everything together.
- Add the roasted peanuts, stir and turn off the heat.
- Scoop the cooked rice into a bowl. Top with the stir fried chicken. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, scallions and cilantro. Serve at once.
Chicken schnitzel with herbs and Parmesan
