Twombly Family Recipe

Teriyaki Chicken Peanut Satay

Peanut satay is incredibly easy and tastes great. It is basically peanut butter and soy sauce. Put it over teriyaki chicken skewers and it is fantastic as a dinner, appetizer or as healthy bar food. It is great on rice, noodles, or even spaghetti.

INTRODUCTION

This recipe is for teriyaki chicken skewers with peanut satay. It is an extremely simplified version of chicken bumbu kacang. Peanut sauces are common accompaniments to Thai and Indonesian dishes. They are often used as a dipping sauce for chicken and beef satay. This is made with chicken breasts striped and skewered. A nice optional way to make the skewers is to wrap the chicken in a slice of bacon, then skewer and grill. The simple skewers are shown in this recipe.

HISTORY

Peanut sauce, satay sauce, bumbu kacang, sambal kacang, or pecel is a sauce made from ground roasted or fried peanuts. It is widely used in the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Suriname and Africa. It is also used, to a lesser extent, in European (particularly Dutch), Middle Eastern cuisine and occasionally in Filipino cuisine. Peanut sauce goes well with chicken, meat and vegetables. It is often used to add flavor to grilled skewered meat such as satays, poured over vegetables as salad dressing such as in gado-gado, or as dipping sauces for spring rolls.

One of the main characteristics of Indonesian cuisine is the wide applications of bumbu kacang (peanut sauce) in many Indonesian signature dishes such as satay, gado-gado, karedok, ketoprak, asinan and

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Twombly Family Recipe

pecel. It is usually added to main ingredients (meat or vegetable) to add taste, used as dipping sauce such as sambal kacang (a mixture of ground chili and fried peanuts) for otak-otak or ketan or as a dressing on vegetables. Introduced from Mexico by Portuguese and Spanish merchants in the 16th century, peanuts found a place within Indonesian cuisine as a popular sauce. Peanuts thrived in the tropical environment of Southeast Asia, and today, they can be found roasted and chopped finely, topping a variety of dishes and in marinades and dipping sauces.

Peanut sauce reached its sophistication in Indonesia, with the delicate balance of taste acquired from various ingredients according to each recipe of peanut sauce; fried peanuts, gula jawa (palm sugar), garlic, shallot, ginger, tamarind, lemon juice, lemongrass, salt, chili, pepper, sweet soy sauce, ground together and mixed with water to acquire right texture. The secret to good peanut sauce is "not too thick and not too watery." Indonesian peanut sauce tends to be less sweet than the Thai one (which is a hybrid adaptation). Gado-gado is eaten with peanut sauce throughout Indonesia showcasing the delicate balance of sweet, spicy and sour.

Through its former possessions in South East Asia, peanut sauce has become a common side dish in the Netherlands. Besides being used in certain traditional Indonesian and Dutch-Indonesian dishes, peanut sauce takes a Dutch context when it is eaten with French Fries. A popular combination at Dutch fast food outlets is French fries with mayonnaise and peanut sauce (often with raw chopped onions), called a Patat Oorlog (lit. "French Fries War").

Peanut sauce is also eaten with baguette, bread, cucumber or potatoes. It is also used as an ingredient in the deep-fried snack food called Satékroket, a croquette made with a flour-thickened ragout based on Indonesian satay. In Chinese cooking, the sauce is often used on grilled meat. Other uses include hot pot and dan dan noodles. In Singapore, peanut sauce is not only used as dipping sauce for satay. It is also eaten with rice vermicelli known as Satay bee hoon. In Vietnam, it is called tương đậu phộng and is used in cuốn diếp dish. Commercial versions of the usually homemade sauce are available in a number of countries. In Australia, common brands include Fountain and Ayam brand. In the United States, common brands include House of Tsang, Annie Chun's, and Sajen.

Key Tools

Grill (outdoor grill is best; oven grill works well too). Bowl for soaking

Recipe

Serves: 6 heartily Costs: $10 total Time: 7 minutes for preparation, 12 minutes for cooking.

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Twombly Family Recipe

INGREDIENTS

3-4 lbs. (1.8 kg) boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips. 12 bamboo or wooden skewers. 1 cup (237 mL) Kikkoman for marinade. ½ cup (118 mL) Jiff creamy Omega 3 peanut butter for satay. 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) Kikkoman for satay. 1 each. fresh lime, sliced (for garnish).

For a fancier marinade, combine the ingredients below into one sauce. ½ cup (118 mL) Soy sauce, Kikkoman. ½ cup (118 mL) Mirin (a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with a lower alcohol content—14%

instead of 20%), Sake, or dry sherry. ½ cup (118 mL) Sake or sweet Japanese rice wine. 1 tsp. (5 mL) fresh ginger, zested or ½ inch piece of ginger thickly sliced. 2 tsp. (30 mL) about 1 clove of garlic, crushed. 2 Tbsp. (30 mL) brown sugar, or 2 Tbsp. unrefined cane sugar (which imparts a nice molasses

flavor), or 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, or 3 Tbsp. honey. Add more or less sugar to taste. 1 tsp. (5 mL) sesame seeds (for garnish). OPTIONAL. 1 green onion, green part only, cut into rings and/or ground sansho pepper (for garnish).

OPTIONAL.

For a fancier satay, combine the ingredients below into one sauce. 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) Kikkoman. 3 Tbsp. (45 mL) peanut butter. 1 tsp. (5 mL) freshly grated ginger root. ½ tsp. (2 mL) garlic (approximately one small clove, or half a clove), minced. 2 tsp. (10 mL) brown sugar, or 2 tsp. unrefined cane sugar (which imparts a nice molasses

flavor), or 2 tsp. brown sugar, or 3 tsp honey. Add more or less sugar to taste. 1 tsp. (5 mL) shelled, roasted peanuts, chopped (for garnish). OPTIONAL. 1 tsp. (5 mL) Sriracha chilies, finely chopped (for garnish). OPTIONAL. 1 tsp. (5 mL) fresh ginger root, finely chopped (for garnish). OPTIONAL. 1 tsp. (5 mL) fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (for garnish). OPTIONAL.

A note on soy sauce: I prefer Kikkoman Traditionally Brewed, Less Sodium, Soy Sauce over all others. One may choose the traditional (more sodium) but the result is a bit too salty for my taste. Alternatively, one may choose shoyu (Japanese dark soy sauce). Some prefer the Japan-based Kikkoman, which is salty and tangy. Others are committed to the local Aloha shoyu, which is sweet and mild. Some prefer Kikkoman to cook with because they want a stronger flavor. Others prefer to use Aloha only when pouring onto something to eat immediately.

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Twombly Family Recipe

Kikkoman comes in a low sodium (low salt) formula that I much prefer for Teriyaki.

A note on Teriyaki sauce: Traditional Japanese teriyaki sauce is thin in texture, and contradicts the popular image of bottled teriyaki sauce which tends to be very thick and sticky. Westernized recipes for teriyaki sauce may include the addition of a slurry of corn starch and water to thicken the sauce, but the addition of a corn starch slurry is entirely up to your preference. The way I make it is less sweet than typical teriyaki sauce. I make it zester, spicier and less salty. My favorite marinade is made with a simple recipe, with a ratio of 1:1:1 (one, to one, to one). To do this, combine equal parts of soy sauce, sake, and mirin and then add sugar to your liking.

Reasonably good Teriyaki marinade (sauces) are readily available if you do not wish to make

your own.

A note on peanut satay: There seems to be wide variety of ways to prepare peanut satay. The constants are 1. Soy sauce, 2. Peanut butter, 3. fresh garlic, 4. fresh ginger, 5. Chili paste, and 6. some sort of sugar. Then the variables come in, including 7. coconut milk, 8. fish sauce, 9. lime juice, etc. It can be fun balancing the salty of fish sauce with the sweet of coconut milk, and the fresh of lime juice versus the savory of chicken broth, but I kept mine simple. I enjoy the garnishing.

Reasonably good peanut satay (sauces) are readily available if you do not wish to make

your own.

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Twombly Family Recipe

STEPS

OVERVIEWStart the rice first (or omit rice from the recipe steps). Then make the sauce and marinade (or just buy them). Then grill the chicken and serve.

RICE

1. Place a medium size pan on the stove. 2. Set the heat to high.3. Place 2 cups water in the pot. Each crop requires slightly different amounts of water. We

experiment with each bag of rice until we get the water proportions correct.4. Place 2 cups rice in the pot.5. Bring to a rolling boil.6. Turn the heat down to medium, and cover the pot.7. Cook for 20 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE LID (no peeking, it loses too much moisture as steam and

makes the rice dry).8. Remove from heat (no peeking) and let stand for 5 minutes.9. Remove the lid and fluff.10. Cover and set aside.

MARAINADE

11. In a medium bowl, pour soy sauce (or marinade) over chicken. Turn chicken to coat all surfaces. 12. Set aside at room temperature for one hour, or cook right away, or put in the refrigerator for a day.

SATAY

13. Combine ingredients in a bowl, stir. 14. Garnish with peanuts, finely chopped ginger, and/or finely chopped peppers, and it is ready to use.

GRILL

15. Soak the skewers in water to prevent burning, and also protect them with tin foil while on the grill. 16. Lace stripped chicken onto skewers. Cover the tip of the skewer with chicken.17. Turn grill on “Hi”, let the grill come to high temperature (I go to 500F, 260C).18. Turn grill to lowest possible setting.19. Place chicken on grill.20. Pour some marinade over chicken.21. Cook for 7 minutes.22. Turn over each piece.23. Pour marinade over chicken.24. Cook for 5 minutes.25. It is ready to serve.

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Twombly Family Recipe

When grilling, coat with sauce when first put on the grill, and again after turning.

SERVE

26. Place white rice on a plate, and place two chicken skewers on top of the rice (or just place between two slices of bread to make a sandwich). Garnish with lime and serve.

27. Pour the remaining marinade into a small bowl, garnish, and serve on the side.28. Pour the satay into a bowl, garnish and serve on the side.29. Enjoy.

Classic Teriyaki chicken skewers with vegetables on the side, and garnished peanut satay.

RESULTS

The salty and sweet marinade is delightful, simple, and quick. The peanut satay is tasty, easy and fast to make.

DRINKS

Sake, beer, wine, tequila…whatever you have around the house goes great with Teriyaki chicken with peanut satay on the side.

DINNER AND A SHOW

For a fusion of Japanese and American culture in a modern, youthful, fun, fresh way, watch the original Karate Kid (1984). A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.

ABOUT Twombly Family Recipes

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Twombly Family Recipe

These recipes were developed organically from the hearths of Twombly homes throughout America; from the shores of California; mountains of Colorado; to the halls of Florham, Vineland, and New York; all the way East toward our little family homestead in Fairfield County, Connecticut. With the use of wholesome easy to find ingredients, supermarket available, we present a plethora of internationally inspired dishes that celebrate the diversity of our family and draw upon our many travel experiences. We each do our part to contribute to the dish. As we coordinate together, priceless memories are made. Anyone willing to replicate these recipes in their own home kitchens will discover the spirit and love of family working together to create more than just food- a Twombly family recipe sustains the heart as well as the stomach.

Ben Twombly, master chemist and self-taught chef, crafted fine-tuned recipes with measurements provided in English and European (SI) units; approximate ingredient prices and cost per servings where available; and hints and tips. But one cannot live by the practical aspects alone. This guru of artful living generously offers instructions for culinary adventures, complete with movie and song recommendations to accompany the joyful shared process of cooking, dining, and hanging out at home with loved ones.

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