Title: The Art of Making Authentic Singaporean Chicken Satay with Peanuts Sauce

Hello and welcome to my kitchen, I'm Elly, the owner of Satay By The Bay SF. Today, I'll be showing you how to make authentic Singaporean chicken satay, a dish that's near and dear to my heart. As an owner of a food truck specializing in this popular Southeast Asian street food, I've perfected the recipe over the years, and I'm excited to share it with you.

Cutting the Meat

To start making our delicious chicken satay, we need to cut the meat into strips. Why do we choose halal chicken thighs? The fat content helps hold a flavor better. You may have heard that satay comes from one country, but the truth is, this popular dish originates from all parts of Southeast Asia. My version of satay comes from my mom and grandmother, and every country has its own unique twist on this beloved dish.

Cutting the meat into strips allows it to hold flavors better than cutting it into cubes or larger pieces. When you cut in cubes, it takes longer to cook, and the result might be drier. By cutting our chicken into thin strips, we ensure that the flavors are evenly distributed throughout the meat. Now, let's add all the marinating ingredients to the bowl with our halal chicken thighs.

Marinating the Chicken

Our marinade consists of a blend of spices and herbs, including onion powder, garlic powder, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass powder, galangal powder, coriander, fennel, cumin, white sugar, and molasses. This unique combination gives our satay its distinctive flavor profile. Don't forget to add a pinch of salt to balance out the flavors. We'll also add a little water to make it easier to mix everything together.

For those who are familiar with Singaporean cuisine, you know that we like a lot of flavor in our satay. A typical Singaporean dish consists of these spices and herbs, along with other ingredients that vary depending on the region or province. Some variations may include additional condiments or sauces. However, my version of peanut sauce is the star of our show today.

Skewering the Chicken

Once our marinade has soaked into the chicken for 24 hours, we're ready to skewer it. Skewing the chicken in a way that allows for even distribution of flavors and textures is crucial. I recommend weaving the strips in and out of the skewer to create a wave-like effect. This helps the flavors penetrate deeper into the meat while keeping it thin and even.

Skewering the chicken is also an art form, and everyone has their own technique. Some people might prefer a different method or use a specific tool. Whatever your approach, make sure that you're having fun with it!

Peanut Sauce

Now that our skewers are ready, we'll move on to the star of our dish: peanut sauce. There are many variations of this condiment across Southeast Asia, each with its unique flavor profile. My version is inspired by traditional Malay-Singaporean cuisine.

To make our peanut sauce, we need a few key ingredients: ground purple onions, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, palm sugar, and other spices. Palm sugar is what creates the magic in this sauce, giving it a rich, milky flavor that's hard to replicate with regular sugar. You can use a hammer or meat tenderizer to cut the palm sugar into smaller pieces if needed.

We'll also add some blended lemongrass and galangal to our peanut sauce for an extra boost of flavor. The key is to balance out these ingredients without overpowering each other. Once you've combined all the ingredients, it's time to blend them together until smooth.

The Finished Product

After carefully preparing our chicken satay and peanut sauce, we're ready to serve. Our skewers are beautifully presented, with a wave-like effect that showcases the even distribution of flavors. The aroma of spices and herbs fills the air, enticing everyone within range to try some.

Our peanut sauce is now blended to perfection, with just the right amount of sweetness and spice. This condiment brings everything together, tying our satay dish into a cohesive whole. When you take that first bite, you'll experience a symphony of flavors that will leave you wanting more.

In conclusion, making authentic Singaporean chicken satay is an art form that requires patience, attention to detail, and a love for the traditional cuisine. By following this recipe and experimenting with different techniques, you can create your own delicious version of this beloved dish. Thank you for joining me in my kitchen today, and I hope you've enjoyed learning the secrets behind my signature satay.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en-Hi, I'm Elly, I'm the ownerof Satay By The Bay SF.Today, I would like to show youhow to makeauthentic Singaporeanchicken satayas well as peanuts sauce.First thing we're going to dois to cut the meat.We use halal chicken thighs.The reason is becauseof the fat right here.It will hold a flavora little bit better.So we're going tocut them into strips.So people always think thatsatay comes from one country,but satay actually comes fromall parts of Southeast Asia.Now this is my version of itbecause it comes from my momand my grandmother.Every country's satayis different.If you cut in cubes,it will take longer to cookand it may be drier.If you cut them in strips,it will actually holdthe flavor a little bit better.All right,so now they're all cutand I am goingto put them in a bowl.So we are going to marinatethe chicken right now.So we have the onion powder,garlic powder,ginger, turmeric,lemongrass powder,galangal powder, coriander,fennel, cumin, the white sugar.And I use molasses, too.It is a different kind ofsweetness that I choose to have,just to give it some character.Don't forget the salt!And also a little bit of water,so that it's easierfor you to mix it.So for us Singaporeans, we likea lot of flavor.A typical Singaporean satayconsistsof all these ingredients,as well as the spices.Now I know that Thailand,they can skewer the meatwithout putting any marinade.And in Indonesia,the peanut sauce is veryimportant, and you know,they use a little bit more ofthe soy sauce on the skewer.And Malaysia and Singaporeversion are pretty similar.It also dependson the province of Malaysia,which partof Malaysia you can be.You know, I may be wrong,but the southern partof Malaysian cooking and recipesare a little bit more similarto the Singaporean style.You can actually keep itfor 24 hoursso that the flavorwill soak into the meat.So once it's done, I'm goingto put it in the fridge.Okay, it's been 24 hoursand we are going to skewer.Now how you skewerit is also very important.I would recommend that you weaveit in and out of the skewer.So that way it has some waveto itwhile stillkeeping it to be thin.Some people have their own wayof skewering -- like I,you know, whatever you do,it's your -- it's your skewer.See, look how easy it isto glide in through the skewers.So this is a completed skewer.Look how beautiful it is,the wave.It is actuallyAmerican size,But I'm going to show youhow a typical sizeof a Singapore skewerlooks like, okay?Ta-da! Now let'scompare it with mine.It's actuallythree times bigger.All right, so here are the bunchof skewers that I have made,and now we are going to move onto the star of our food truck,which is our peanut sauce.There are so many versionsof peanut sauce --Thai, there's Indonesian,there's Malaysian,and this is my versionof peanut sauce.It's not my grandparent's recipebecause that's a secret recipe.So this is going to bethe gen-- genericMalay-Singaporean versionof the peanut sauce.So we're going to startwith the ground ingredients,or blended ingredients,which isactually the purple onions.Some people wouldrather use shallotsbecause it is sweeter.Garlic.So now we're going to putall this stuff in here.Here we go.So I just want to talka little bit moreabout the, uh, palm sugar --palm sugar, to me,is what creates the magic.This is a little bit more milkyand it is richer.You can put it like thisif you want to,but you will risk it burningbecause it will take longer timeto dissolve.You can actually use a hammeror tenderizer, meat tenderizerif you want to, to cut it.So this is what I useas, uh, for tamarind.I-it comes in blocks, okay?So I cut it in half,cut it smaller,and I'll soak it in water.If you want to make iteven smaller for itto be easier to dissolve,it's totally fine.But we need two other condimentsthat we have not done yet,which is actually the lemongrassand the galangal.So let's go with itlemongrass first.I don't blend it, so I cut it.This is actually the coreof the flavor.Cut the bottom,and you can actually, you know,peel off the outsideof the lemongrass.You hammer it,and I'll just --how my mother would do it.I remember when I don't beat ithard enoughand it still looks whole,and my mom would say, like,\"You did not beat ithard enough!Beat it again!\"So here.Okay, now let's talk aboutthe galangal --at home, we would just,you know, peel itand we're going to treatthis galangaljust like the lemongrass --we're going to beat it up.Let's get ready to cook.All right, so first, you got toheat up the pan.Once it's hot you put inthe oil -- we use canola oil,just so you know that this isthe generic recipeoff the peanut sauce,not my secret recipe.So I'll just take a pieceof whateverthat I'm going to put in, whichis, in this case, lemongrass.Once you hear the crackleand it's swimmingand it's bubbly,means that it is hot.I'll put in my lemongrass.Medium heat is always good.Just fry till you can smell.Here I have the blended onionsand garlic.♪♪You can go even brownerif you want to --crispy means that the blendedingredientsare not watery anymoreand you can actually see the oilthat separates.It is very, very, very importantto cook it to crisp.Because if you don't cook itto crisp,your peanut saucewill not taste good.Crispiness means that whenthe onionsand garlic looks brownish,and you will see the oilcoming out of the mixture.So now we are going to putthe sambal --that'd be chili, sambal.And then guess what?We are going to cook itto crisp again.Okay, it looks likeit is pretty crispy.You can see the oilright in the bottom here.I'm going to put the galangal.This is a tamarindthat I had soaked forabout half an hour in hot water,so it looks like --see -- brownish.And you can use your handto just keep mashing it.Put it in.This is the husk of it,or rather the pulp.Do I use it?Oh, yes, of course.So just make surethat you take the seeds out.So the more pulpthat you put in,the more sour it will be.So you might want to put likehalf of the pulp.Don't get too excited.And you stir.Now let's put inthe palm sugar.I stir it firstbefore I put in the peanuts.You can see that the peanutsI actually use,they are a little bit coarse;they are actuallymore like what you usefor banana splitsor even sundaes.Okay?It has to be roasted peanuts.But as long as you don't putthe whole peanuts in there,it doesn't work, okay?So...So go aheadand put the peanuts.We put in the palm sugar.Now this is the other sugarthat we're using,which is a white sugar,and that's a little bitof salt in there.So as you can see thatthis is really pasty,so I'm going to put some water.Just don't go to townwith water, please,because you don't want itto be too watery.But also remember thatthe peanuts will expand.You can't always repair it,Okay, you can always repairwhat you cook.OK, this is how peanut saucewill look like.It looks very watery right nowbecause the peanuts have notbeen like,you know, expandedand cooked yet.So right now, what you do isthat you put that on really lowor medium heat.And I would say simmer for aboutat least half an hour --half an hour to 45 five minutes.Do not make thisand forget about it,so you have to keep stirring itbecause of the ingredientsthat's at the bottom.Okay, it has been about40 to 45 minutes,and it seems likemy peanut sauce is ready.It's dank!Like right now it is very,it is pretty thick,when you turn the heat off,everything willgel together againand it will get thicker.All right,we're done with the peanut sauceand now we are getting readyto grill the satay.So what I do is thatI'll just put oil, some oil,and put a brush in to seewhether it is hot or not.Looks like the grill is ready.Just put it in.You can hear it sizzle.And put more oil in here,on here.The oil actually helps itto cook and crisp.Look at all the firethat's coming out right now,so that actually helpsto crisp itand prevent your meatfrom being dry.On average, it takes aboutsix to eight minutes to cook.Just remember, it dependson the cut of the meatand how you skewer it.So if you look at it likehow thin it is,it will actually cookabout six to eight minutes tops.So if you have a tiny grillin the backyard,yes, it does change everything.You got to put it on low heatstill about six minutesand do not --please do not leave your skewerson the grill and walk awaybecause you're going to burn it.All right, it has been sixto eight minutes.It's time to take themout of the grill and make them.Voilà!♪♪Here we go,we're just gonna dip it in.♪♪Oh, my God.You can actuallytaste the sour,the spicy, the peanuts,the sweetness of it.Piece of meat with lotsand lots of flavor.If you ever want to tryour food truck,you can follow us on Instagramand Facebook @SatayByTheBaySF,or our website,sataybythebay.com --that's where you can findour schedule.And for the recipe,click the link below.-Making me nervouswith that knife.-I control the knife,I master the knife now.See after it, uh, what do youcall that?Cut my nail?I'm good.\n"