Weight Watcher Wednesday: Coconut Curry Pork Satay

I have made satay before but it probably was way more calories than this.  The nice thing about having a cookbook that lists the nutritional value is that you don't have to try and figure it out for yourself. It's all there servings and counts.  I have figured out calorie counts for recipes before.  I use Calorie King and Calorie Count at About.  After a while you get to know what a cup of sugar is, a cup of oil, a cup of butter, etc.  Memorizing these calorie counts makes the job go by a lot faster. 

You also come to understand that a lot of times adding 2 tablespoons of light sour cream verses regular sour cream doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the end amount of calories.  As stated before I am really not into light things.  Often times the amount of chemicals or sugar used to make up for the lack of fat are far worse than having the regular item.  I think it is better to make substitutions with things like buttermilk or yogurt for sour cream rather than  light sour cream. I would never judge you if you choose to use those products just investigate what is in them and make informed choices. Okay there is my food rant of the day.

Coconut Curry Pork Satay
Adapted from Weight Watchers, Take Out Tonight!
If you do not have the tomato paste, use ketchup; brown sugar for palm sugar; anchovies for fish sauce; and chicken for pork. This recipe serves 6 people who are watching their weight- four people if they are not.

1/2 cup light coconut
2 tablespoons palm sugar, grated
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
1 pound boneless pork tenderloin trimmed of all fat, cut into thick chunks
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
lettuce leaves, if you so desire

Mix pork, sesame oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.  Make sure all pieces are coated.  You want the chunks of pork to be about 1/4 inch thick and 1 inch by 1 inch.

In a saucepan combine coconut milk, brown sugar, soy sauce, tomato paste, peanut butter, fsih sauce and crushed red pepper.  Bring to a boil, whisking to combine.  Lower heat to simmer and cook for about five minutes.  Remove from heat,  but keep the mixture warm.

Place pork chunks on skewers. leaving about a 1/4 inch between pieces of meat to allow for even cooking.

Grill or broil pork about 2 to 5 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the slices.

1 skewer (or 1/6th of the pork) with two tablespoons of sauce is 157 calories, 6 g fat, 456 mg sodium