A tale of two best friends on opposite sides of the world and their quest to cook everything from
Stephanie Alexander's 'The Cook's Companion'

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Stephanie's Satay Lamb


This dish solved two problems for me. 1) I needed inspiration for Lamb Monday and 2) I needed to get a dish on here, so here it is. I used lamb, of course, but any meat would do - chicken, beef, or even prawns. It was my first go at making a satay sauce from scratch, and a word to the wise, don't take your eye off the wok, as the nuts will start to burn immediately!

This was not too hard to make, and I prepared the marinade and meat the day before. Hubby skewered the meat on for me while I was preparing the rest of the dinner. He also managed to cook the meat for me, so he was a great help.

The recipe suggests it makes enough marinade and sauce for 500g meat. I did closer to 1kg of lamb, and it was still plenty. Stephanie advises to cut the meat into 2cm or smaller cubes, as a satay should be cooked quickly. The substitution for this recipe could be 250g crunchy peanut butter instead of the fresh peanuts. Also, don't forget to soak bamboo skewers for at least half an hour before threading the meat on and cooking it. That way you can ensure the skewer does not burn before the meat is done.

Satay Marinade and Sauce (Printable Recipe)
adapted from Stephanie's Satay Marinade and Sauce, pg 610

Marinade
2 teaspoons red curry paste
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 stalks lemongrass (tender part only)
2 tablespoons palm of brown sugar

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. Marinate meat for at least 1 hour, or overnight before threading the meat onto skewers.

Satay Sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
2 tablespoons boiling water
250g shelled raw peanuts, dry-roasted
peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
75g brown or palm sugar
1 cup coconut milk
salt

Soak the tamarind pulp in boiling water for 30 minutes, then squeeze and press through a coarse strainer and reserve liquid. (I may have cheated here and substituted it for the prepared tamarind paste, it worked, so who cares?) Crush nuts in a food processor, then heat the wok with a little oil and fry the garlic until pale gold. Quickly add the peanuts, chilli and sugar. Stir in tamarind and coconut milk. Mix well and add salt if required. Cook the mixture, stirring, until the oil separates and floats to the top. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Spoon the mixture into a jar and refrigerate until required.

To serve, grill marinated meat on all sides, then spoon over the satay sauce (I reheated it just prior to serving) and offer extra sauce at the table.

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