Satay & Sangria

...is a weird combination, I know! But with the grilling season fast approaching I couldn't help but give this a go over the weekend. Sangria is my all time favourite drink and with a never ending supply of wine at home, I kinda whip up this cocktail ever so often.

I always went for the traditional sangria using red wine whenever I made it at home, but this time I thought of trying out the white sangria or the Sangria Blanca using white wine. The fruits used can be anything, but because of previous not-so-pleasing outcomes, I decided to go all citrussy. I have used apples, peaches, nectarines, blue berries etc. before, but the problem is, after they stay in the liquid for a while, it kinda ferments and the taste sucks. So what I'd suggest is..make them a wee bit before you want to serve, so it can chill for a while in the refrigerator and try and finish it all at one go (oh yes we were super drunk by the end of the meal), so you don't have to drink fermented and slightly horrid tasting sangria later on. And since you'd put so much effort (and alcohol) into it, you don't want to pour it down the drain as well. It works best if you are serving this at a brunch or BBQ party, cos then you have made just enough for everyone to have a glass or two max.

Satay on the other hand is making its way through to my kitchen for the first time. Although I've had them plenty of times at Malaysian and Indonesian restaurants, I have never tried them at home thinking its quite a tedious task. It was at the back of my mind to try it out some time, but wasn't breaking my head over it.

That's when one of Ro's cousins, a brilliant cook from what I hear, passed on a satay recipe which he said he'd perfected while he was in Louisiana for 2 months on work. He had an outdoor grill at his hotel and after playing around with the recipe he finally settled on this one. Good for me I should say, cos I didn't have to waste my time googling for recipes...which incidentally takes more time for me, than making any dish. He was so clear with his recipe that I didn't even harass him with doubts. He even gave substitutes which was great because I would have wasted significant amount of time researching. He's tried to be as close to the authentic as possible and I have tried to stay as close to the recipe as possible.

Ajoy's Satay recipe

Chicken boneless breasts- 2 pounds or approx 900gms to 1 kg

Wooden/ metal skewers- about 10 to 12, soaked in water for at least an hour

Marinade:

Shallots- 1/3 cup finely minced (I kinda chopped it finely)

Minced lemon grass- 1/3 cup (I bought lemon grass paste from the store)

Ginger paste- 1/2 tbsp or 1 to 2 inch ginger piece minced

Garlic- 1/2 tbsp or about 3 cloves, minced

Cumin powder- 3/4 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Oyster sauce- 1 1/2 tbsp

Soy sauce- 1 1/2 tbsp

Fish sauce- 1 tbsp

Molasses- 2 1/2 tbsp (I used brown sugar)

Rice vinegar- 2 1/2 tbsp (use tamarind paste mixed with water as substitute)

Cooking oil- 2 tbsp (use peanut oil for a more authentic taste)

Sambal chilli paste- as per taste (I used 1 tsp of red chilli powder). Substitute with paprika or chilli flakes

Wine or sherry- 1 1/2 tbsp (optional)

Salt- add only if needed

Slice the chicken breasts lengthwise, about 1 inch wide. My chicken breasts were really thick, so I placed them on a cling film, wrapped it up and pounded with a mallet to thin it out a bit.

Mix/ blend together all the ingredients under the 'marinade' section.

Mix the meat with the marinade making sure they are all evenly coated. Marinate overnight for best results or at least for 2 to 3 hours.

Thread each marinated strip on to the skewer, leaving about 2 to 3 inches at the top and bottom of the skewer free. I gave the job to Ro to thread the meat so he managed to do about two strips on to one skewer.

Pre-heat the grill for about 10 minutes and line a roasting pan, that can hold the skewer vertically, with a silver foil.

Place the chicken skewers vertically on the roasting pan, so that the skewer edges rest on the pan edges and the juices from the chicken get collected in the pan. You can also just place it on a normal baking pan, but this way its easier to turn them over without a mess.

Cook each side for 4 to 5 minutes, basting them in between if you have left over marinade.

Serve with some peanut sauce (recipe follows).

Dipping sauce:

Chunky peanut butter- 3 tbsp

Thick coconut cream/ milk- 1/2 cup or as required (blend in equal parts with peanut butter to get thick gravy-like consistency

Honey- 1 to 2 tbsp, depending on how sweet you want it to be

Thai green chilli- 1, chopped fine or to taste

Shallots- 2 tbsp, minced

Garlic- 2 tbsp, minced

Salt- to taste

Blend together all the ingredients together and serve with satay and wedges of lime.

Notes: You can use thin cut boneless pork cut against the grain at 1 inch width or even beef skirt steak cut against the grain at the same width. Both need to be pounded to about 1/4 inch thickness.

This is best cooked on a BBQ grill, but I did it in my oven in the grill mode and it turned out fine. I'm thinking an electric grill like a George Foreman would also do the trick. Ajoy also says it can be broiled.
I didn't make the peanut sauce, but since I had the recipe I thought I should post it.

Sangria Blanca (serves about 10 to 12 glasses, adapted from here)

Sugar- 1/2 cup

Orange juice- 1 cup

Vodka- 1/2 cup

Brandy- 1/2 cup

Dry white wine- 1 bottle (750ml) I used a Chardonnay 

Lemonade- 350 ml

Lime- 1 half, thinly sliced

Orange- 1half, thinly sliced

Lemon- 1 half, thinly sliced

In a glass pitcher stir together the sugar, orange juice, vodka and brandy till the sugar has dissolved.

Add the white wine and throw in sliced lime, lemon and orange.

Just before serving top with the lemonade and serve cold. Add ice cubes if required.

Notes: You can do a non alcoholic version of this using white grape juice. 

Like I mentioned before, you can throw in apples, peaches, apricots, blue berries, strawberries etc.


Sending the Sangria Blanca to Radhika's Fun n Sun event over at Tickling Palates.