Daring Cooks: Satay

I actually have made some satay before on this blog, almost two years ago... time flies. It was chicken satay. When I saw satay for the challenge of this month's Daring Cooks, I actually was excited, even though I had made it before. It was a great excuse to make satay again. Really it is so delicious. I went with pork for this satay since I had done chicken before. I used pork loin.

This is one of those dishes that is really hard to photograph, especially during the winter months. I like natural lighting so really I have to wait until the next to do my shots. The reason why it is so difficult is because it just disappears. I literally had to act like a pit bull for the last piece of meat so I would have something to shoot in the morning. How funny is that?

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.



Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay Marinade

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)
1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)

Feeling the need to make it more Thai? Try adding a dragon chili, an extra tablespoon of ginger root, and 1 tablespoon (0.5 oz or 15 mls) of fish sauce. (I keep some premature (still green) dragon chili peppers in the freezer for just such an occasion.)

Directions:
1. Cheater alert: If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.
2. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.
3. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

Chill Chart

Pork	Beef/Lamb	Chicken	Vegetables	Tofu (no oil)
4-8 hrs Up to 24 hrs	6-8 hrs Up to 24 hrs	1-4 hours Up to 12 hrs	20 min – 2 hrs Up to 4 hrs	20 min – 4 hrs Up to 12 hrs

* If you’re grilling or broiling, you could definitely brush once with extra marinade when you flip the skewers.

Peanut Sauce
based on this recipe from Tyler Florence

1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons red curry paste
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup hot water

Combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, red chili paste, brown sugar, and lime juice in a food processor or blender. Puree to combine. While the motor is running, slowly pour the hot water to thin out the sauce. Thin to desired consistency.