Chicken Satays

This popular Thai street food is perfect for a dinner party or for a family dinner with some leftovers for lunch. It is amazing how far a few chicken breasts can go when sliced into satays. You must make this peanut sauce to go with it and whatever you do, don't take a shortcut and use peanut butter.

To make the marinade for the chicken, I use a mortar and pestle. Heating up the seeds and crushing them does make a difference in flavour. Smashing all the ingredients together forms a paste which, when mixed with coconut milk, is full of subtle tones and fragrant aromas. What to do if you don't own a mortar and pestle??? You could manage with a ziploc bag, sans air, then use a flat meat tenderizer to smash it into a paste.

I like to marinate the chicken for at least a few hours. For vegetarians/vegans, I've used this marinade for portobellos and tofu steaks.