The Best Chicken Satay with Bonus Peanut Sauce Recipe | Food Wishes

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248 Video Views·Aug 2, 2025
Not only do I think this is the best way to make chicken satay, it’s also the easiest way, thanks to a couple shortcut, time-saving ingredients. This can be cooked several ways, but charcoal grilling produces something beyond gorgeous, and the flavor is extraordinary. We’ll also show you how to make a perfect peanut sauce to pair alongside. Enjoy!
Hello this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with the best chicken satay. That's right it's come
to my attention that I've never posted a video for this. Which is shocking since this is one
of my favorite things to eat. But anyway I'm going to finally show you what I think is the best recipe
and also the easiest recipe. Thanks in part to these first two ingredients which would be some
plus a nice big spoon of curry powder. And while we could add all the individual ingredients used
to make these, this is going to save us a lot of time and effort. But we'll still produce something
extraordinary. And then to that we will add a little bit of salt plus some sugar both white
and brown. And we'll follow that with a touch of Asian fish sauce. And then we'll finish up the
some real full fat coconut milk. And we will pour that in and then take a whisk
and mix this very thoroughly. And thanks to those first two ingredients in just a couple minutes
this is ready to start tossing chunks of chicken into. So feel free to spend all that extra time
toasting and grinding spices and pounding chilies and garlic and ginger and a mortar and pestle.
Which of course would be great. But I'll take something very close that we can just do in a
couple minutes. And then as far as how to prep the aforementioned chicken chunk, we'll take some
boneless skinless chicken thigh which as you know have two sides. A smaller flatter side and a bigger
fatter side. And what I like to do is cut between those two pieces in the thinnest point. And then
cut the smaller side in half to make two chunks. And then if we take the bigger side and cut that
into quarters, we should end up with six relatively uniform pieces. And yes, while I hate to admit it,
you can make this with chicken breast. And if you don't overcook it, that works fine.
But it dries out really quickly. So I think the thigh is better since it stays moisture and has
more flavor. Speaking of which, we don't need to trim off any of those little pieces of white
surface fat. Since that's one of the reasons why this is moisture and more flavor. But no matter
what we use, once our chicken's cut, we will transfer it into our marinade. And we'll give it
a thorough mixing to make sure it's all evenly coated. At which point we're going to wrap it up
and pop it in the fridge for about two hours. Which I personally think is the perfect marination time.
Okay, some people go as long as overnight. But I've done both and I think the shorter
marination is better. We get the same flavor with what I think is a better texture.
And while our chicken's in the fridge, there's a couple other things we need to do.
Like toss our bamboo skewers into some water so they don't catch on fire on the grill.
Right, they're still going to char, but at least they won't turn to ash and fall apart.
And then the other thing we'll want to do is put together our peanut sauce.
Which not surprisingly starts with some smooth all-natural peanut butter. To which we will add
some coconut milk. Followed by a clove or two of crushed garlic. As well as some brown sugar.
But not too much. Since I prefer this more on the salty savory side. Which is a perfect segue
to me adding some soy sauce. As well as some Asian fish sauce. And then we're definitely
going to want some acidity in this. Which I'm going to do by squeezing in a whole lime.
And then after that's been added in, I'm going to add a little bit of a secret ingredient.
Which is a nice drizzle of sesame oil. Which I think is going to add another interesting nutty
note to combine with the peanut butter. And that's it. We'll finish up with some sriracha
hot sauce. With the exact amount being determined by you. I mean you are after all the Danny Kay
of how to sauce your chicken satay. But I do like this to have a little bit of heat.
Oh and by the way, this recipe with the marinade and the sauce is going to use about a half a can
of coconut milk. So if you want to use it all, just go ahead and double the recipe.
And then once we have this mixed up, we'll want to adjust the texture with a splash of water or two.
Okay I want this thick, but I don't want it too thick. So we'll adjust that to get the exact
texture we want. Which for me looks something like this. And that's it. We'll wrap that up and pop
that in the fridge until we need it. And then once our chicken's marinated long enough, we will grab
our soaked skewers and we will start skewering. Oh and by the way, did somebody sue the skewer
company? Because they poked their finger and they claimed the skewer was too sharp. Because these
things were super dull and I was having a little bit of trouble getting it through the meat.
So if that's what happened, nice going buddy. Now we all have to use dull skewers.
And if you're using the same length skewer I am, you're probably going to get about four chunks on
you. And while the meat should definitely be touching, do not squeeze it super tight together.
Since that's going to prevent the heat from penetrating through to the center.
But anyway, once all our chicken's been impaled, we'll go ahead and wrap that up and pop it in the
fridge while we build a nice charcoal fire. And once that's ashy white and beautifully hot, we
will place our skewers down on the grate, which I brush lightly with oil. And what we'll do is grill
these for about four to five minutes per side. Which of course depends on how big you cut your
chicken and whether you use thigh or breast. Since the breast is going to cook a little bit quicker.
And while charcoal grilling is by far the most delicious and beautiful way to do this,
you can also simply sear these in a pan with a little bit of oil
or on one of those cast iron grill pans. Or even do them in the oven under your broiler.
But if at all possible, please do them over charcoal. Since those bittersweet char marks
and that little bit of a smoky kiss, I really do think elevates all the other flavors.
And according to my sources on the island of Java, this is how the original authentic real satay was
done. And as far as checking for doneness goes, once the meat firms up and springs back to the
touch, that's usually a good indication it's done. But of course you can always check with
a thermometer. And I think they want us to go to like 155-160 for chicken thigh these days.
But either way, once we think those are done, we'll start pulling them off the grill.
And we can argue back and forth about what the most delicious grilled chicken dish is.
And this is definitely a candidate for that. But if there's a more beautiful version of
grilled chicken than this, I would love to see it. Since I think the appearance of this
is just beyond gorgeous. And that's it. We'll head inside and transfer that onto a serving plate.
And alongside, I like to do some fresh lime. And of course, plenty of our peanut sauce.
And then for some final touches, for a little bit of texture and color, I'm going to scatter
over some sliced hot red chilies, some chopped up roasted peanuts, plus a little bit of freshly
chopped cilantro. And that's it. What I'm claiming is the best chicken satay is ready to enjoy.
I'm going to go ahead and squeeze on a little bit of fresh lime before dunking this chicken
in the sauce. And if you've had it before and you're a fan of chicken satay, I really don't
need to say anything else in this video, since you know. But if for some inexplicable reason,
you've never had this before, I must insist this is the next recipe you make.
Since there are few better combinations in the world of food than this super flavorful,
wonderfully aromatic chicken dipped in that slightly sweet, salty, savory peanut sauce.
It is just so addictive and nearly impossible to stop eating, which is why I'm probably not going
to. But anyway, my apologies to everybody for taking so long to share this. I remember we did
a beef satay a long time ago that was very good. And I probably said in that video that I would be
doing the chicken version sometime soon. But then I never did. But anyway, I can finally say that I
think this is the best way to make chicken satay. At least the best, fast and easy way, without
having to make everything from scratch. And I really do hope you give it a try soon. So please
follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe and much more info as
is always.
