TOTO Satay Mix was the first spice mix I tried. The recipe for that came from Toto, an Indonesian domestic help employed by Allan, a long-time friend.
Though I liked the taste, TOTO satay mix somewhat did not have the familiar aroma of the traditional satay I grew up with. And no wonder, after googling for satay recipes, I found there are many versions of satay mixes. So I decided to produce my own version by combining the herbs and spices that I would like in my version.
So here it is:
Coriander seeds, 8 tbl
Candlenuts, 8
First, I think the unique aroma of traditional Singapore satay comes from the coriander spice. Hence top quality coriander seeds should be used. And I suspect the unique flavor and taste of traditional Singapore satay has to be due to the lemon grass stalks.
To prepare, I mw'ed 8 tbl coriander seeds at 30% power for 4 min, let it cool, then mw again at 100% power level for 1 minute. When the seeds have cooled, I pulverized the coriander seeds in a mortar with 8 candlenuts until fine.
Separately, I blended in an electric blender:
Lemon grass 5 stalks
Shallots 300 gm
Garlic cloves 8
Cooking oil, as needed to help in blending the spice mix
Add blended spice mix to spice pounded in mortar in a bowl.
To the resulting mix I added:
Chilli powder 2 tbl
Tumeric powder 4 heaped ts
ABC Kecap Manis 2 tbl
Tiger thick soya sauce 2 tbl
Brown sugar 4 tbl
Salt 3 ts
Oyster sauce 2 tbl
Tamarind pulp 2-3 ts, softened in hot water
Gula melaka 200 gm, broken up or pounded into small pieces.
Keep satay spice mix in a bottle in the fridge. Use as needed to marinade chicken, mutton, beef for 12 hours or longer in the fridge.
COOKING
My initial attempt at cooking the marinaded chicken was a dismal failure: tasteless, no fragrance, fried chicken! I fried 3 chicken drumlets that had been in the marinade for 1 hr, in hot oil. The result was a total disappointment. Frying is definitely not the way to cook the satay drumlets; the spice mix probably got fried and ended up in smoke instead of on the chicken !
For the second attempt I decided to use the Rinnai oven. I set the oven to preheat at 200 deg C
under top grill with fan, then placed the drumlets on a wire mesh placed atop a heat-proof casserole that has water in it. I grilled each side for 6 minutes. That seems to be the time the drumlets need to
cook through. Another 2 minutes would be way too long, making the drumlets cooked but not juicy.
VERDICT
Well, A and I were really surprised how tasty and fragrant the grilled chicken drumlets were! What a difference grilling in the Rinnai oven is from frying in an open wok! Still, we felt the spice mix could do with more hot chilli, as we prefer our sambal to be fiery. Next time I will use fresh tumeric root
instead of tumeric powder. And perhaps add galanggal (which is one of the ingredients in some satay recipes) to see if that makes a difference.
We will also try the spice mix on mutton, beef and pork.
===
Postscript: Readers may be interested to refer to two recipes for satay mixes googled from the web. The respective sources are attributed. Let me know if you have tried them out and share which you prefer.
Source: ArtsCentral, Mediacorptv
RECIPE for GOURMET HUNT Ep 3 - Satay
Chicken Satay
Ingredients:
900 grams boneless chicken
200 grams palm sugar
One tablespoon sugar
One teaspoon tamarind pulp
Half cup water
One-and-a-half teaspoon salt
Three-and-and half tablespoon coriander seeds or two-and-a-half tablespoon ground coriander
5 tablespoon vegetable oil
To pound:
2 stalks fresh lemongrass or one teaspoon powdered lemongrass
60 grams galangal (or blue ginger)
One fresh read chilli
150 grams of onions
Method:
1. Cut chicken into small one-cm cubes.
2. Melt palm sugar over low hear with quarter cup water. Strain and discard grit. Mix tamarind pulp with quarter cup water, knead and sieve to discard fibres and seeds.
3. Toast coriander on medium heat in an oven till fragrant.
4. Peel galangal. Use only the bottom 5cm of the lemongrass. Pound or grind the galangal, lemongrass, chilli and shallots.
5. Mix with the palm sugar, white sugar, salt, tamarind water and coriander powder.
6. String three pieces of meat to a skewer and marinate in the spice for at least 10 hours.
7. Barbecue over glowing coals till cooked and browned.
Peanut sauce
Mixture to pound:
15 grams fresh galangal
15 dried chillies
3 cloves garlic, peeled
one tablespoon shrimp paste
30 grams shallots or onions, peeled
Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
3 quarter teaspoon salt
one stalk lemon grass
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
One cup toasted peanuts, pounded fine
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
60 grams tamarind
2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Sauce Preparation:
1. Mix tamarind pulp with water and strain for juice
2. Pound or grind spice mixture till fine
3. Fry spice mixture in hot oil till fragrant. Add remaining ingredients, stirring well.
===
Source: http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2006/09/recipe-chicken-satay.html
Recipe: Chicken Satay
Ingredients:
4 chicken legs and thighs or 4 chicken breasts (deboned)
Spice Paste:
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
2 stalks lemon grass
6 shallots (peeled)
2 cloves garlic (peeled)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 teaspoon of chili powder
2 teaspoons of turmeric powder (kunyit)
4 teaspoons of Kecap Manis (ABC brand from Indonesia recommended)
1 spoon of Oyster Sauce (Lee Kam Kee brand recommended)
Bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 2 hours to avoid burning)
1 cucumber (skin peeled and cut into small pieces)
Method:
Cut
the chicken meat into small cubes. Grind the Spice Paste in a food
processor. Add in a little water if needed. Marinate the chicken pieces
with the spice paste for 10-12 hours. Thread the meat on to bamboo
skewers and grill for 2-3 minutes each side. Serve hot with fresh
cucumber pieces.
Though I liked the taste, TOTO satay mix somewhat did not have the familiar aroma of the traditional satay I grew up with. And no wonder, after googling for satay recipes, I found there are many versions of satay mixes. So I decided to produce my own version by combining the herbs and spices that I would like in my version.
So here it is:
Coriander seeds, 8 tbl
Candlenuts, 8
First, I think the unique aroma of traditional Singapore satay comes from the coriander spice. Hence top quality coriander seeds should be used. And I suspect the unique flavor and taste of traditional Singapore satay has to be due to the lemon grass stalks.
To prepare, I mw'ed 8 tbl coriander seeds at 30% power for 4 min, let it cool, then mw again at 100% power level for 1 minute. When the seeds have cooled, I pulverized the coriander seeds in a mortar with 8 candlenuts until fine.
Separately, I blended in an electric blender:
Lemon grass 5 stalks
Shallots 300 gm
Garlic cloves 8
Cooking oil, as needed to help in blending the spice mix
Add blended spice mix to spice pounded in mortar in a bowl.
To the resulting mix I added:
Chilli powder 2 tbl
Tumeric powder 4 heaped ts
ABC Kecap Manis 2 tbl
Tiger thick soya sauce 2 tbl
Brown sugar 4 tbl
Salt 3 ts
Oyster sauce 2 tbl
Tamarind pulp 2-3 ts, softened in hot water
Gula melaka 200 gm, broken up or pounded into small pieces.
Keep satay spice mix in a bottle in the fridge. Use as needed to marinade chicken, mutton, beef for 12 hours or longer in the fridge.
COOKING
My initial attempt at cooking the marinaded chicken was a dismal failure: tasteless, no fragrance, fried chicken! I fried 3 chicken drumlets that had been in the marinade for 1 hr, in hot oil. The result was a total disappointment. Frying is definitely not the way to cook the satay drumlets; the spice mix probably got fried and ended up in smoke instead of on the chicken !
For the second attempt I decided to use the Rinnai oven. I set the oven to preheat at 200 deg C
under top grill with fan, then placed the drumlets on a wire mesh placed atop a heat-proof casserole that has water in it. I grilled each side for 6 minutes. That seems to be the time the drumlets need to
cook through. Another 2 minutes would be way too long, making the drumlets cooked but not juicy.
VERDICT
Well, A and I were really surprised how tasty and fragrant the grilled chicken drumlets were! What a difference grilling in the Rinnai oven is from frying in an open wok! Still, we felt the spice mix could do with more hot chilli, as we prefer our sambal to be fiery. Next time I will use fresh tumeric root
instead of tumeric powder. And perhaps add galanggal (which is one of the ingredients in some satay recipes) to see if that makes a difference.
We will also try the spice mix on mutton, beef and pork.
===
Postscript: Readers may be interested to refer to two recipes for satay mixes googled from the web. The respective sources are attributed. Let me know if you have tried them out and share which you prefer.
Source: ArtsCentral, Mediacorptv
RECIPE for GOURMET HUNT Ep 3 - Satay
Chicken Satay
Ingredients:
900 grams boneless chicken
200 grams palm sugar
One tablespoon sugar
One teaspoon tamarind pulp
Half cup water
One-and-a-half teaspoon salt
Three-and-and half tablespoon coriander seeds or two-and-a-half tablespoon ground coriander
5 tablespoon vegetable oil
To pound:
2 stalks fresh lemongrass or one teaspoon powdered lemongrass
60 grams galangal (or blue ginger)
One fresh read chilli
150 grams of onions
Method:
1. Cut chicken into small one-cm cubes.
2. Melt palm sugar over low hear with quarter cup water. Strain and discard grit. Mix tamarind pulp with quarter cup water, knead and sieve to discard fibres and seeds.
3. Toast coriander on medium heat in an oven till fragrant.
4. Peel galangal. Use only the bottom 5cm of the lemongrass. Pound or grind the galangal, lemongrass, chilli and shallots.
5. Mix with the palm sugar, white sugar, salt, tamarind water and coriander powder.
6. String three pieces of meat to a skewer and marinate in the spice for at least 10 hours.
7. Barbecue over glowing coals till cooked and browned.
Peanut sauce
Mixture to pound:
15 grams fresh galangal
15 dried chillies
3 cloves garlic, peeled
one tablespoon shrimp paste
30 grams shallots or onions, peeled
Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
3 quarter teaspoon salt
one stalk lemon grass
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
One cup toasted peanuts, pounded fine
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
60 grams tamarind
2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Sauce Preparation:
1. Mix tamarind pulp with water and strain for juice
2. Pound or grind spice mixture till fine
3. Fry spice mixture in hot oil till fragrant. Add remaining ingredients, stirring well.
===
Source: http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2006/09/recipe-chicken-satay.html
Recipe: Chicken Satay
Ingredients:
4 chicken legs and thighs or 4 chicken breasts (deboned)
Spice Paste:
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
2 stalks lemon grass
6 shallots (peeled)
2 cloves garlic (peeled)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 teaspoon of chili powder
2 teaspoons of turmeric powder (kunyit)
4 teaspoons of Kecap Manis (ABC brand from Indonesia recommended)
1 spoon of Oyster Sauce (Lee Kam Kee brand recommended)
Bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 2 hours to avoid burning)
1 cucumber (skin peeled and cut into small pieces)
Method:
Cut
the chicken meat into small cubes. Grind the Spice Paste in a food
processor. Add in a little water if needed. Marinate the chicken pieces
with the spice paste for 10-12 hours. Thread the meat on to bamboo
skewers and grill for 2-3 minutes each side. Serve hot with fresh
cucumber pieces.
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