Thursday, September 3, 2009

How to Grill Chicken Sates - Steven Raichlen Recipe


This is my 17th recipe from Steven Raichlen's incredible book... HOW TO GRILL

How to Grill Chicken Sate detailed instructions are on page 254 of the book. Lots of pictures and a recipe for the Thai marinade. I cook lots of chicken. This recipe is among the very tastiest chicken i have ever made. Rich from the coconut milk, and very spicy from the peppers in the marinade. This can be served as either a main course, or as an appetizer; making Raichlen's chicken sate versatile, tasty, unique, and can be served with a panache!

And before we start on the recipe, let me give you the standard disclaimer I always use about reprinting recipes......Long time readers of the blog, I am going to start coloring the lettering in the disclaimer, it will be the same for each review, feel free to skip to the standard black colored text...

OK, here's my generic talk about Steven Raichlen and his book...and me... As long time readers know, I am doing my own tribute (rip-off) off the Julie/Julia project, cooking my way through Steven's amazing grill guide, HOW TO GRILL. Unlike Julie, I won't be finishing this in a year, but I will be making an item at least once a week.

A word about reprinting recipes... I asked for some advice a few posts back. I understand that it is done, lots of people do it, and there would be no consequences. But, I decided not to reprint any of Steven's recipes from this book. I have several reasons, first and probably most important to readers, I just think that this is a book that should be in every one's library. Buy the book. It is very detailed, comes highly recommended by someone who cooks on the grill often (me), lots of photos, lots of instruction... Darn near idiot proof. But, most important to me, I want to respect the copyright. In another life, I owned a book store. I have met and socialized with authors, and I have a great deal of respect for the effort it takes to produce a work like this. It may take a couple years, but eventually, I intend to make every single recipe in the book. Starting to reproduce the recipes, intending to do them all would certainly offend me as a book seller, and probably Steven as the copyright holder. Buy the book, Amazon has used copies available for under $7. Worth every penny.

OK, back to the recipe. The marinade is very easy to assemble. At one point, he recommends using Asian Fish sauce, but gives me the option of substituting Soy Sauce. I opted for what I had in my pantry and used Soy Sauce. I have a terrific little grinder, kind of like a Cuisinart food processor, only much smaller. This is a terrific tool for getting garlic, peppers and herb seeds into very very teeny tiny pieces. When these were added to the Coconut milk and soy sauce, they dissolved very quickly! It made the marinade perfect!

The prep on the chicken is very simple and easy to follow from the photos. Cut into long slivers, weave onto a skewer (for at least an hour prior to weaving, soak the sticks on cold water to keep them from burning on the grill).
Economy of effort, here's a shot of my chicken next to my skewers soaking!

Here they are weaved on the sticks. Weaving works better than just shoving them straight onto a stick. This way, less chance that they will come off the stick during grilling.
And HEY... here's a tip of my own that is not in Steven's book. It is important when you marinade these that you weave onto the sticks prior to marinading (when they are wet, the chicken will tear easily). It is also VERY important to not get the marinade on the sticks. During flair ups, it is likely that the marinated sticks will catch fire. So, Steven suggests using a plate with a high lip, flipping every few minutes in order to insure even coating.

Instead, I put the meat into a beer glass, stick side up, and poured the marinade onto the glass just covering the meat and leaving the sticks sticking out. Worked great and got the goop well covering the chicken!

Grilling is very straight forward, Be sure to keep a close eye on these, as flair ups do occur due to the marinade melting off and dripping into the fire. just a couple minutes on each side and they are done!

These tasted GREAT. It was just for my wife and I, so I only cut up two breasts. It made 12 skewers worth, I served with the Stoplight Grilled Vegetables from yesterday (Click HERE for that recipe), and I even had leftovers. These were very filling. Just a little spicy in my gentle wife's palate's opinion. To me, they had a great spicy taste. But, she certainly ate all the pieces on her plate and went back for an additional skewer. SO, they couldn't have been that spicy.

On my scale of 1-5, this gets a HUGE 5. Works great as a main course, but equally well for an appetizer. Your guests will be shocked at all the flavor. I can't recommend this enough!

It is getting close to Labor day, and some of you are trying to decide what to make. here's a list of what I have made so far from Steven Raichlen's incredible book... HOW TO GRILL. If any of you want to give any of these a try, and need some advice, feel free to drop me an email at Back on July 24th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for GRILLED GARLIC CHEESE BREAD. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 418. There are 2 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. I have made this again since then, without changing a thing. A great easy recipe.

On July 25th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for GARLIC GRILLED TOMATOES. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 393. There are 2 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this only a 2 on my scale of 1 to 5. if you like cooked tomatoes, I suppose this recipe is as good as it gets. Personally, I would have preferred them Raw. Much more a personal taste thing than a commentary on the recipe.

On July 25th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for GRILLED PEPPER SALAD. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 383. There are 2 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this only a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. Easy, Tasty and very versatile. On the day I made these, I had some as the recipe calls for, but I combined them with tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese to make a grilled salad.



On August 9th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for BARBECUED CABBAGE. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 358. There are 2 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. Trust me, I am not a fan of cooked cabbage. But this combines butter, bacon and BBQ sauce to make the BEST side dish imaginable. A huge crowd pleaser... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

On August 17th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for SESAME GRILLED ASPARAGUS. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 354. There are 2 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this only a 4 on my scale of 1 to 5. All worked well with the recipe, but I would have liked a marinade instead of a glazing for the sauce.



On July 26th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for GRILLED PORK CHOP CALZONE. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 131. There are 3 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this only a 4 on my scale of 1 to 5. All worked well with the recipe, but I would have liked a marinara gravy or even some type of marinade. I will certainly make this again.

On August 5th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for TAPENADE PORK LOIN. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 117. There are 5 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this only a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. I will certainly make this again, and it is perfect for a crowd that likes something gently spiced.

On August 9th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 202. There are 3 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this only a 4 on my scale of 1 to 5. It tasted GREAT, but I also made another of Steven's chicken recipes on the same day, that was just a titch better...

On August 9th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for CHICKEN STUFFED WITH FLAVORED BUTTER. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 207. There are 3 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. I have made a dozen different whole chicken recipes. This is by far the very best chicken recipe I have ever tasted... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

On August 13th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for KANSAS CITY SWEET AND SMOKY RIBS (Spareribs). You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 135. There are 4 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. I will make these again and again and again. With spareribs being 1/3 the price of baby backs, and twice the meat, this is a MUST have recipe!

On August 19th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for THE PERFECT HAMBURGER (Hamburgers with Herb Butter). You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 98. There are 3 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a Only a 2 on my scale of 1 to 5. I have lots of problems with this recipe. Read my review, but it is hardly the perfect hamburger. This is the biggest disappointment in the book.

On August 22nd, I blogged about Steven's recipe for HERB CRUSTED GRILLED BEEF TENDERLOIN. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 46. There are 4 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a Only a 4 on my scale of 1 to 5. Cooking a whole tenderloin (while expensive) is a very cheap way to make filet mignon on the grill. The skills that Steven talks about on these pages are invaluable, and are worth the price of the book alone. I just have other recipes I prefer.

On August 27th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for GINGER SOY LONDON BROIL. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 70. There are 2 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. It is a great way to make an inexpensive cut of meat VERY tasty. I will make again without changing a thing!

On August 27th, I blogged about Steven's recipe for SALMON WITH MUSTARD GLAZE. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 291. There are 3 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. Very very tasty!

On August 31st, I blogged about Steven's recipe for LEAN AND MEAN TEXAS BARBECUED BRISKET. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 42. There are 3 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. Moist, tender and makes a beautiful smoke ring!

On September 3rd, I blogged about Steven's recipe for CHICKEN SATE. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 254. There are 3 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this a HUGE 5 on my scale of 1 to 5. Lots of great flavor, perfect as a main course or an appetizer!



On July 31st, I blogged about Steven's recipe for COCONUT GRILLED PINEAPPLE. You can check my review by clicking HERE. In HOW TO GRILL, the recipe starts on page 424. There are 3 pages with detailed photo instructions prior to the recipe. I gave this only a 4 on my scale of 1 to 5. I liked it, but I added some shaved coconut to the top. The recipe calls for just coconut milk, but I liked adding the extra texture, as well as taste boost. This is very easy, and a great crowd pleaser. It comes HIGHLY recommended!


17 recipes so far!

9 comments:

  1. They look so delicious! I love coconut satay skewers. Are there peanuts in the marinade too? If you are going to cook more Thai-inspired food, you should think about getting fish sauce. It's really, really stinky, but once you get past the smell, it adds a really wonderful flavor.

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  2. Thanks Pal... I should have mentioned there was a peanut sauce recipe that I also made as a dip.

    As to the fish sauce, it was a budget thing. I have quite a bit spent for this weekend (I am smoking pulled pork for 50 people), so I was after a way to save a little money. Next time, i promise to use the better ingredients and not substitute.

    Thanks for the comment

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  3. I love sates and these look absolutely wonderful.

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  4. I've done them with pork but this chicken actually looks better than pork. Great job!

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  5. I LOVE Chicken Satay's ! Why did you have to remind me ?????!!!!! :) ...Come to think of it... maybe being your neighbour is not such a good idea... as I would NEVER be able to watch my weight eating all this amazing food !...its all just soooo appetising !

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  6. A feast for the eyes and for the appetite!

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  7. Fabulous tip for standing the skewers up in a glass!

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  8. I would love to comment on your post from Sept 3 on How to grill chicken sates. These look & sound so yummy. I love the idea of weaving the chicken on the skewer to keep it from falling off :)
    plb8156@aol.com

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