Oven Baked Chicken and Tofu Satay with Fruity Peanut Sauce

Personally i like satay but due to the traditional way of preparing it (grilled or barbequed over charcoal fire) i frequently stay away from it. i often find it rather oily for my liking for they often baste the satay with oil using a lemon grass or brush , also i'm pretty picky on how they serve it, where most of the satay sellers included a piece of "fat" together with the lean meat on the skewer.

So due to all that , i've decided to make my own version of satay with just lean meat and also oven bake it to reduce the amount of oil used. Since i'm sharing this new adventure of mine with a friend and her family, i prepared both the chicken and tofu satay for my friend's a vegan.

Ingredients

CHICKEN SATAY

* 3 pcs breast meat

* 6 tsp cumin powder

* 6 tsp coriander powder

* 3 tsp turmeric powder

* 3 stalks lemon grass (pound)

* 3 tbsp+ olive oil

* 6 tbsp brown sugar

Method:

1) Remove the skin from the chicken breast meat if any and cut it into strips or cube.

2) Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl thoroughly and then add the chicken strips to marinate. Its best to marinate it overnight.

3) Skewer the strips when you're ready to bake it at a preheated oven of 210 degree C for bout 15-20mins on each side.

4) Serve with some fresh onions and cucumber.

Note:

Using fresh turmeric to marinate the chicken strips will give it a more fragrant aroma as compared to the powder form.

The longer you bake , the less juicy is your chicken strips, therefore dont overbake it for you'll end up with a dry chicken strips.

FRUITY PEANUT SAUCE

* 300gm roasted peanuts

* 200ml coconut milk

* 1 cup tamarind juice

* sugar and salt to taste

* water

Spice Paste

* 3 tbsp chilli paste

* 10 shallots

* 8 cloves garlic

* 2 stalks lemongrass

* 5cm fresh turmeric (optional)

* 6cms ginger

* 4cm galangal

* 3 tsp cumin

* 2 tsp shrimp paste powder (optional)

* 6 candelnuts

* 1/2 Small pineapple (roughly blend)

Method:

1) Blend or pound the spice paste ingredients.

2) Heat some oil in the non-stick and add in the spice paste and stir fry until its aromatic.

3) Add the tamarind juice and stir it for a little while before adding ground nuts.

4) Keep stirring until its thoroughly mixed and add in the coconut milk.

5) Let it simmer and add in the roughly blended pineapple.

6) Add in more water if you like the sauce to be more watery.
7) Season with salt and sugar to taste.

Note:

I bought the readily available coarsely chopped roasted peanuts to save time. For those who can't find that , you'll need to dry fry the ground nuts until its aromatic, cool, remove the skin and pound it.

I also added blended pineapple juice, a few pieces of pineapple with some water. I used pineapple for the peanut sauce to give it a different touch as compared to the normal peanut sauce the satay sellers served. This is a remake of the peanut sauce i've tasted when i was down south.

I waited until the gravy has cooled down and poured 3/4 of the thick peanut sauce into the blender and blend it until its of a smooth and creamy consistency. I poured it back to the non-stick and stir under low heat and add more pineapple juice or tamarind juice until i achieve the consistency i like.

TOFU SATAY

* 3 pcs beancurd

Spice Paste

* 1 tsp cumin powder

* 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

* 8 shallots

* 1 tsp coriander powder

* 1 inch fresh turmeric

* 1 tsp sugar

* 1 stalk lemongrass

* 2 tbsp roasted peanuts

* 1 tbsp olive oil

* Salt to taste

Method:

1) Cubed the tofu to bite size or any size you fancy. Blend or pound all the spice paste ingredients.

2) Baste/coat the cubed beancurd with the spice paste and let it marinate overnight.

3) Skewer the beancurd when you're ready to bake.

4) Bake in a preheated oven of 210 degree C for bout 10mins on each side.

5) Serve with the fruity peanut sauce and some onions and cucumber.

Note:

If you like it to be spicy, add some chilli paste to the spice paste.

Handle the beancurd as gentle as possible when you coat it with the spice paste for you dont want to destroy it before you're able to eat it :). The spice paste will be of a rather thick consistency.

Ayam Masak Rendang ( Chicken in Coconut Milk)

Rendang is an Indonesian dish originated from the Minangkabau, one of the etnic group in Indonesia and one of the characteristics food of this culture, it is served at ceremonial occassions and to honour guests. This particular dish is also popular in Singapore and Malaysia and its traditionally prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions. Usually rendang is made from beef but this dish can be prepared with chicken or mutton or even vegie.

Ingredients

* 1.3kg chicken

* 3 lemongrass (bruised)

Spice A ( Pound/blend)

* 15 shallots

* 15 cloves garlic

* 3 inch galangal

* 3 inch ginger

* 9 stalks lemongrass

* 30 dried chillies

Spice B

* 9 cloves

* 9 star anise

* 9 cardamon seeds

Spice C

* 3 cups thick coconut milk

* 3 cups water

* 3 tsp tamarind puree

Spice D

* 18 kaffir lime leaves

* 18 tbsp grated coconut

* 3 tbsp palm sugar

* Salt to taste

Method:

1) Dry fry the grated coconut until it turns golden brown and set aside.

2) Add some oil and stir fry Spice A and Spice B together until fragrant

3) Then add chopped chicken pieces and bruised lemongrass and saute

4) Next, add Spice C and let it simmer , stir occassionally.

5) Add spice D and reduce the heat to low and simmer. Preferably cover your pot/wok. Cooking will take approximately 2hrs for the gravy to dry up.

Note:

You can also add in some turmeric leaves, bay leaves and fresh turmeric. I omitted all of it. Its all up to your preferences. You can also include candlenuts as well.

Do chop your kaffir lime leaves finely when you add in to the wok together with your grated coconut.

The dry fried grated coconut produces oil as well , so its best to sieve the oil from time to time, like how i did it to reduce the amount of oil in the rendang.

This dish is best served with white steamed rice, ketupat or even lemang.