Chicken Sate
Ingredients:
1½ pounds (675 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds or ground coriander
2 teaspoons whole fennel seeds or ground fennel
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar or shaved dark palm sugar
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped ginger
1 fat stalk lemongrass, trimmed and coarsely chopped
½ cup (2.25 oz / 65 g)
coarsely chopped shallot
1 tablespoon canola oil, plus more as needed
Directions:
As needed, butterfly the chicken (see page 58 for details) to even out the thickness. Cut across the grain into strips about 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide. Put into a bowl and set aside.
If starting with whole coriander and fennel seeds, toast them in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Cool, then grind to a sawdust-like texture in a spice grinder. Put the spices into a mini or full-size food processor and add the salt, turmeric, sugar, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, shallot, and oil. Process into a wet paste, pausing and scraping to ensure an even texture. Add to the chicken and use your hands to massage and coat well.
Thread the chicken onto skewers, covering most of each skewer. (With 10-inch / 25-cm bamboo skewers, you’ll fill 4 or 5 of them. If you plan to cook them on the stove top, use short skewers or cut long ones to fit the grill pan.) Give each loaded skewer a gentle squeeze to ensure that the chicken hugs the skewer (this keeps it succulent). Set on a plate, cover, and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
To grill the chicken, preheat a gas grill to medium-hot, prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire, or use a stove-top grill pan heated over medium-high heat with a little oil brushed on. Right before grilling, brush oil on teh skewers. Cook for about 12 minutes, turning frequently and basting with oil, until the chicken is slightly charred and done. Nick a piece to check. Briefly cool before sliding the chicken off the skewers.
For chicken sate banh mi, combine the chicken with plain or flavored mayo and red cabbage pickle along with the chile, cucumber and cilantro. As pictured here, it's also great with the green tomato and lemongrass pickle and, if you like, pickled shallot too.
Excerpted from The Banh Mi Handbook by Andrea Nguyen. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Amazon.com