Skewered Street Food Around The World

Thailand is just a stone’s throw away from Indonesia which lends to the similarities between Thai Style Chicken Satay and Indonesian style recipes.

One big difference between the two recipes is that the Indonesian Chicken Satay recipe has peanut sauce as part of the marinade, which I feel mutes the other ingredients compared to the Thai version. They both are delicious, but I like the straight forward spices, aromatics and fish sauce balanced with soy sauce and palm sugar of this recipe.

Influences of the Spice Trade

Thailand’s adoption of the satay was some point after the Arab traders introduced skewered cooking the Indonesia. Thai cooking in general includes coconut milk and curries along with lemongrass. These naturally pair with the indonesian satay flavors.

What makes the Thai Peanut Sauce Different?

Peanut sauces in Thailand usually incorporate curries and coconut milk as well. The peanut sauces are generally cooked causing the separation of fat in the coconut milk. Depending on what region in Thailand the peanut sauce is from you will probably get a different spice level and version.

You can find the recipe for the Thai Peanut Sauce here to go with Thai Style Chicken Satay

As usual with the skewered meats, charcoal grilling imparts the best flavor and gives you some crispy pieces of meat. You can do this recipe on a gas grill or under the broiler in the oven.

Check out some of the other recipes for Skewered Street Food Around the World

• Pinchos Morunos (Moorish Skewers)
• Pollo a la Brasa Skewers – Bolivian Style Charred Chicken
• Shashlik – Grilled Pork Skewer
• Yakitori – Japanese Grilled Chicken Skewers
• Argentinian Churrasco Beef Skewers with Chimichurri(GF)
• Black Cod and Shrimp Spiedini – Italian Grilled Skewers (GF)
• Indonesian Style Beef Satay (Satay Sapi)

Pick another recipe to try! Enjoy!

Thai Style Chicken Satay

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Course: Appetizer, Main

Cuisine: Asian, Thai

Keyword: Bbq, Chicken, Chicken Marinade, Grill, Grilled, Grilling, Satay, Skewer, Skewered, Street Food, Thai

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Chef Tony Zentgraf

Recipe tip – make the peanut sauce first as it can sit at room temperature for a couple of hours. If you make the sauce then refrigerate it will firm up. If this happens, reheat with a small amount of water to help get to the consistency you want.

Pin Recipe Share on Facebook

Tried this recipe?Mention @culinaryseasons or tag #culinaryseasons!

Recipe Multiplier

.5x1x2x3x

Thai Peanut Sauce

• ▢ Make the marinade for Thai Peanut Sauce here.

Thai Chicken Satay Ingredients

• ▢ 2 lbs Chicken Thighs diced 1-1½"
• ▢ 2 tbsp Shallots minced
• ▢ 3 ea Garlic Cloves minced
• ▢ 2 ea Thai Chilis sliced
• ▢ 1 tbsp Ginger minced
• ▢ ½ tsp Turmeric
• ▢ 1 tsp Coriander
• ▢ ½ tsp Cumin
• ▢ 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
• ▢ 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
• ▢ 2 tbsp Palm Sugar or 1½ Tbl Brown Sugar
• ▢ 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Instructions

Making the Marinade

• Clean and cut the chicken thighs, reserve until marinade is prepared.
• Mince the shallots, garlic & ginger. Slice the thai chilis.
• In a bowl, combine all ingredients except the chicken. Mix well to combine and dissolve the sugar.
• Add the chicken and marinate for 2-6 hours.

Grilling the Thai Chicken Satay

• Skewer the chicken onto water soaked skewers. This will help to reduce the burning of the skewer.
• Preheat the charcoal grill or gas grill.
• Grill the Thai Chicken Satay. Turning every 2-3 minutes to avoid excessive charring. There is no need to baste with any remaining marinade.
• Once the chicken reaches 165° remove from the grill.
• Serve with the Thai Peanut Sauce.

  Enjoy!

Video

Pick up some more bamboo skewers so you can continue cooking recipes from the Skewered Street Food series.